Nvidia's founder and CEO Jensen Huang is stepping down, marking a significant change for the company and the AI industry it has long championed. Colette Kress, the chief financial officer, will serve as interim CEO as Nvidia searches for a permanent replacement. The board also elected former Synopsys CEO Harvey Jones as its first-ever board chairman. Huang, who is the fourth-largest shareholder with a 3.61 percent stake, will also leave the board. Nvidia's shares dipped more than 10 percent in premarket trading following the announcement, reflecting market sentiment towards the company. Huang faced increasing pressure after reports surfaced alleging that he had affairs with both a Chinese businesswoman suspected of spying for Beijing and a senior company executive. China dismissed these spying claims as "baseless." The company's board convened on Wednesday to discuss his departure, following earlier reports of his extramarital affairs. Huang's exit introduces uncertainty into the $4 trillion company, potentially derailing the nuanced ecosystem he fostered by investing Nvidia's substantial cash reserves into key industry players. "The risk is not losing the technology roadmap, which is visible for the next few years," says Michael Feldman of ClearBridge Investments, "but rather execution. Jensen has been the crucial coordinator of a highly complex system, a competitive advantage in itself." This departure comes amid broader concerns about AI stocks, which have been under pressure due to rising debt and cash burn among tech giants.