Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's resignation ripples from Wall Street to Washington

It took Jensen Huang more than 30 years to build NVIDIA into a $4 trillion company and less than a week to be forced to step aside. His dramatic resignation under a cloud of scandal after multiple reports of affairs. First with a woman accused of spying for Beijing who allegedly smuggled NVIDIA's advanced technology into China. Then with an NVIDIA executive who reported to Huang. It's a big and shocking development. You know, that's a very important company. Here it is. Huang is seen as a visionary, taking NVIDIA from a gaming startup to a powerhouse that controls 90% of the market for advanced chips essential for AI. His departure, a serious blow to the company and the AI industry. There's nobody really quite like him in terms of his influence and his ties. NVIDIA shares tumbled 14% at the start of trading, then recovered. Finishing the day just 4% lower. Investors perhaps reassured that Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will take over as interim CEO until the board can find a permanent successor. I think that's a good stopgap, but NVIDIA ultimately is going to need a very, very strong technology executive at the helm. U.S. President Donald Trump, a close ally, continued to defend Huang, saying he has done a fantastic job and suggesting former Apple CEO Tim Cook as a replacement. Huang, though, faces mounting political pressure in Washington, reportedly agreeing to appear before Congress for questioning. Now we have to get to the bottom of whether America's national security has been compromised. China, meanwhile, has denied any involvement in spying, calling the allegations a smear campaign against Beijing. NVIDIA says it has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised. The company has hired a law firm to investigate whether Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence plot. Nisha Patel, CBC News, Toronto. Okay, let's get a little more detail here with Peter Armstrong in Washington tonight. So, Peter, pretty hard to overstate just how big a player NVIDIA is, both in the tech world and D.C. For sure. NVIDIA doesn't just build AI chips, right? It's invested in this whole swath of AI companies. The best example of that, just to pick one of many, is OpenAI. Jensen Wong pumped like $30 billion into that company. And in turn, OpenAI agreed to buy billions of dollars of NVIDIA chips. That's happened in every part of this space. The AI build-out, the stock market gains, the real-world economic benefits like data centers, they're all underpinned. By NVIDIA. Then think about the political fallout. It's already reached the White House. Trump and Wong are very close. But, you know, NVIDIA is kind of at the nexus of the AI build-out. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is at the nexus of all the ways in which NVIDIA crosses over with public policy. Yeah, let's talk about Howard Lutnick. Canadians hear the name and think immediately of trade talks with Canada. But how does he fit into the NVIDIA situation? In a lot of ways, it's his department that oversees NVIDIA's exports. And Lutnick and Jensen Wong have championed the selling of at least some chips to China. Commerce was investigating the alleged spies that Singapore-based company Megaspeed that's accused of illegally passing NVIDIA chips on to China. His department was informed that Wong's Paramu was a Chinese spy in the first place. And so then now we're looking at a situation where Democrats are promising these congressional investigations, I suppose looking for some very specific answers. Yeah. The big questions, who knew what and when did they know it? Did Trump know the allegation that Wong was in a relationship with a Chinese spy? Did he know it before or after he invited Wong to join him on a state visit to China? Export controls on Megaspeed were... Not implemented, even though reportedly, at least, Trump wanted it, Treasury wanted it, Commerce Department wanted it, but Lutnick didn't act. And so you have senators and congressmen that are really pushing now for a formal investigation. They've told the White House to preserve records, and they want Lutnick to come testify on Capitol Hill. So lots to watch going forward. And we will. All right, thank you. That is Peter Armstrong in Washington.