Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive of Nvidia on Thursday, stepping down from the company he co-founded in 1993 after reports surfaced of two extramarital affairs—one involving a woman whom U.S. intelligence officials reportedly believe is a Chinese intelligence asset.

Few places have more riding on Huang's reputation than Taiwan. The Tainan-born founder has long been treated as a homegrown hero on the island—a frequent visitor who dines with the tech elite and draws fans wherever he goes. Suppliers such as TSMC—the world's largest contract chipmaker—and Foxconn form the backbone of Nvidia's business, and his success has become a source of national pride. That gives the leadership change significance well beyond Nvidia's own boardroom: its chips sit at the center of the global AI buildout, and Taiwan produces the majority of the world's most advanced semiconductors.

In the United States, by contrast, Huang's reputation is now in ruins. Beyond the revelations about his personal life, Nvidia is also contending with accusations that it facilitated Chinese access to its AI chips, which are subject to U.S. export controls—rules Washington has tightened in successive rounds as advanced AI hardware has become a core national security concern.

The road to resignation

Scrutiny has centered on Nvidia's relationship with Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company, following a flurry of media reports about Huang's connection to Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive. Several media reports allege that Megaspeed helped Chinese companies gain access to Nvidia AI processors, potentially in violation of U.S. export controls. Beijing denies that Alice Huang is a spy, and Megaspeed has denied allegations that it is involved in chip smuggling.

On Oct. 29, The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence officials believed Alice Huang had been feeding information to Beijing. On Nov. 8, Jensen Huang admitted to an extramarital affair, and Nvidia announced that it would conduct an independent investigation, adding that it had “no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised.”

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Nvidia's board was preparing to remove Huang as CEO after the New York Times reported a second relationship with an employee. By Thursday morning, Huang had resigned, and CFO Colette Kress—chief financial officer since 2013—was appointed interim CEO.

Taiwan's 'rockstar'

Analysts in Taiwan say the extramarital affairs will do little to dent Huang's celebrity status, given how his business success has become a source of pride.

“Jensen can be said to be a rockstar of the high-tech industry,” said Fang-Yu Chen, an associate professor in political science at Taiwan's Soochow University. “People feel that his achievements are extraordinary and feel very proud that Taiwan 'produced' such a world-class entrepreneur.”

The intelligence allegations, however, could pose a far more serious threat to his standing on an island that sees Beijing's spying on its tech industry as a long-running national security threat.

“If Chinese intelligence operatives were able to exploit business relationships at the highest level of Nvidia, we need to ask whether similar vulnerabilities might exist elsewhere in that network,” said Hung-Jen Wang, a political science professor at National Cheng Kung University. “The allegations raise legitimate questions about supply-chain security that deserve closer examination. This is particularly important for Taiwan because Chinese intelligence activities targeting its technology sector are already a longstanding national security concern.”

On Wednesday, Taiwan revoked Alice Huang's entry permit, preventing her from returning to the island.

Deep ties to the island's tech industry

Huang maintains close ties with Taiwan's technology sector. During a 55-hour visit to Taiwan in January 2025, the Nvidia chief met with senior executives from some of the island's leading technology companies and attended a lunch in Taipei with Foxconn chairman Liu Young-way, Acer chairman Jason Chen, Quanta Computer chairman Barry Lam, and 33 other high-profile guests.

In May, Nvidia announced plans to invest $150 billion a year in Taiwan, which Huang described as the “epicenter” of the AI revolution. Days later, he delivered a keynote address at Taiwan's Computex, one of the world's largest technology trade shows, where he unveiled a new chip designed to bring AI capabilities directly to desktop computers and laptops.

Wang said Huang's relationship with Alice Huang may have only a limited effect on his reputation, because Taiwanese people recognize his contributions to the technology industry. “If the controversy remains primarily a matter of personal misconduct, I suspect Huang will retain much of his popularity,” he said.

His standing, however, could change depending on what “ongoing investigations establish,” Wang added.

“But, the situation would become much more serious if investigators found that sensitive technologies, confidential business information, or restricted AI chips had been transferred to China through relationships connected to this case,” he said. “It would be particularly damaging if evidence emerged that Taiwanese companies or individuals within Nvidia's supply chain had been compromised.”

Huang has already faced criticism in Taiwan over Nvidia's efforts to enter the mainland Chinese market. In October, Reuters reported that ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent placed over $35 billion worth of Nvidia chip orders.

“From their [Taiwanese] perspective, advanced AI chips are no longer simply commercial products,” Wang said, adding that advanced AI chips have become “strategically important technologies” with potential military and national security implications. “If the investigation establishes that Chinese intelligence networks exploited those commercial relationships, his previous arguments about selling advanced chips to China would face much greater scrutiny in Taiwan.”

Nvidia will next report earnings—with Kress at the helm—on Nov. 17. The independent investigation announced on Nov. 8 also remains open, and, as Wang noted, its findings could determine whether scrutiny stays focused on Huang or widens to other companies across Nvidia's supply chain.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.