Nvidia CEO may be replaced amid alleged affairs: Report

Now at 10, a tech titan in turmoil tonight. The high-stakes meeting for the world's most valuable chipmaker, as NVIDIA reckons with its suddenly scandal-plagued CEO and co-founder, Jensen Huang. The company will have some policies about not to have relationships with employees, with the customers, with the vendors, because there will be a conflict of interest. NVIDIA's board calling a meeting tonight to determine Huang's future. Good evening, I'm Claudine Wong. And I'm Mike Maback. That headline from the Wall Street Journal, which is reporting that the company is preparing to remove the CEO. This after revelations of two extramarital affairs. Just today, the New York Times reported Jensen Huang had an affair with NVIDIA's vice president of health care, Kimberly Powell, a longtime employee. Huang is already under investigation by his own company, NVIDIA. And the FBI for an affair with an alleged Chinese spy. It is another blow to the company that has fueled the AI boom and massive economic growth for the U.S. With the man who co-founded the company in 1993 now at the center of a scandal that won't go away. Live coverage now from KTVU's Tom Bakar on where we might go from here. Tom? Well, where we're standing is at the vista point for the Golden Gate Bridge, but if you look over here... You will see the city by the bay, and that is the absolute headquarters of AI which desperately depends on those chips from NVIDIA. Now, if the allegations prove true, the mega executive not only was engaging in an improper workplace relationship, but it was also involved in a foreign adversarial situation. NVIDIA's code of conduct strictly regulates romantic or sexual relations as potential conflicts of interest. The New York Times reported Thursday that CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with the company's vice president of health care as well as a customer, an alleged Chinese spy. If they're asked to spy on behalf of China, they do that. There is nothing in the Western world that's comparable to what China does by law. AI is the weapons of the future and the defense of the future. AI is very important to our national security, our economy. It's not just about somebody who has, you know, some kind of relationship with, you know, outside his marriage. It is the fear that there's some violation of the export, You know, restrictions. Passing some of the information to that Chinese spy, all of these things that could undermine not just the AI market and our position in the AI market, but really undermine our national security. That's what they're going to be working on right now. I'm glad to hear the FBI is involved. NVIDIA's long-serving chief financial officer, a woman, is a leading candidate that other AI chipmaker execs might be considered. They will come up with a new leader, and I would imagine that the company will do well in the future, regardless of what happens with Huang. Bill Gates left Microsoft, and the company continued to thrive, in fact, did better. It's bigger than one person. It's just for how long this uncertainty and... You know, this volatility of the company will last. Whatever happens legally, Professor Bonoffa, a tech executive long before becoming an educator, says never forget the number one rule. When I used to the industry, one of the first things they teach us is don't mix your honey with your money. Now, one of the things that's important here is that the board... You can do what it wants to do, but it also has to do the things that are right for the company because their primary responsibility is to the shareholders, and the shareholders can have a lot to say about that through derivative lawsuits. We'll see what happens, but in reality, this is a big mess that really never should have happened. Reporting live, Tom Vacar, KTVU Fox 2 News, back to you. Yes, certainly a lot of eyes on Nvidia tonight. Baird has downgraded NVIDIA's stock rating to neutral, citing the uncertainty over Wong's tenure. Meantime, shares of rival chipmakers AMD and Broadcom, also based in Silicon Valley, each rose more than 3% today. Now to the latest...