Another Jensen Huang affair emerges, this time involving NVIDIA VP
What's the story
Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA's VP of healthcare, has been involved in an extramarital affair with the company's CEO Jensen Huang. The New York Times reported this citing five people who worked at NVIDIA. Both Huang and Powell are married to other people. The report also claimed that their relationship was a topic of internal discussion at the company.
Incident details
Allegations of inappropriate behavior at NVIDIA's annual GTC conference
During NVIDIA's annual GTC conference in March, Huang and Powell were allegedly caught on camera being affectionate at a San Jose hotel.
The New York Times, however, did not independently verify the existence of such footage.
According to three sources familiar with the matter, a bystander recorded their interaction on a phone.
When Huang's security team noticed the recording and sequestered the individual, they were reportedly offered a nondisclosure agreement.
Career trajectory
Powell's career at NVIDIA
Powell joined NVIDIA in 2008 and now oversees its global healthcare business.
Her work includes hardware and software platforms for accelerated computing, AI, and visualization.
These platforms power medical imaging devices, life sciences research, drug discovery, and healthcare analytics.
Before her current role, she led NVIDIA's higher education and research business as well as strategic evangelism programs like NVIDIA AI Labs and the Inception program for AI start-ups.
Professional growth
Her role in AI and healthcare at NVIDIA
Powell was promoted to senior director of AI business development in 2016 and became VP of healthcare in 2017.
She has also been a speaker at NVIDIA's tech conferences, including GTC, where she spoke about AI's role in healthcare and biology.
Notably, during her March presentation at GTC, she used cartoon depictions of Huang.
Personal controversies
Alice Huang and the potential Chinese intelligence connection
The latest report comes amid heightened scrutiny of Huang's personal and professional relationships. This is due to separate allegations involving Alice Huang, a Chinese executive at Singapore-based cloud company Megaspeed.
US intelligence officials had previously suspected Alice of being a Chinese intelligence asset and that she had developed a close relationship with NVIDIA's CEO.
The two women, Kimberly and Alice, are not related.
Accountability measures
Huang admitted to being unfaithful to his wife
On November 8, Huang admitted to being unfaithful to his wife in a message to NVIDIA employees. However, he did not disclose the identity of the other person involved.
Meanwhile, NVIDIA's board has launched an independent investigation into whether Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation.