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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s stunning resignation<\/a> has sent ripples through the global technology industry, with rival chipmakers itching to take advantage of the uncertainty and others wondering if the downfall of one of AI’s biggest cheerleaders will dampen the mood around the civilization-altering technology. <\/p>\n Huang, who stepped down Thursday following reports of extramarital affairs, including with a suspected Chinese spy, was the very public face of a company that dominates the market for computer chips used to train and run AI models. In March, Huang predicted Nvidia will be grappling with a $1 trillion backlog in orders<\/a> for its chips by the end of the year, doubling his estimate from a year earlier. <\/p>\n A linchpin of the AI boom, Nvidia trades off with Apple as Wall Street’s most valuable company and has invested heavily in other AI firms. <\/p>\n Some of Nvidia’s biggest rivals, such as Broadcom, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, saw their shares advance Thursday following Huang’s departure as investors predicted that its customers will look to diversify their suppliers. In the end, analysts say, this might not be a bad thing. <\/p>\n \u201cThis could turn what has effectively been a monopoly into a horse race again, as competitors rush to meet growing demand,\u201d said Bret Greenstein, chief AI officer at the global consultancy West Monroe. \u201cNvidia did not create that demand, and a shift in this part of the market could ultimately diversify the supply chain, create more choice for customers and strengthen the broader AI industry in the years ahead.\u201d <\/p>\n Nvidia carved out an early lead in tailoring its chipsets known as graphics processing units, or GPUs, from use in powering video games to helping to train powerful AI systems. Demand soared as tech companies scrambled for more chips to build and run AI systems.<\/p>\n In annual filings, Nvidia has identified competitors including Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, Intel, Broadcom and cloud services companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft. While these other players are established and respected within the industry for their chips, they have been trying to catch up to Nvidia.<\/p>\n Nvidia has had an advantage from the start and as soon as a competitor releases something just as good, Nvidia has put out the next better chip, said Jay Aldebert, chief growth officer of International Services Inc. \u201cNobody\u2019s just sitting still,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n While some competitors saw bumps to their share prices Thursday, \u201ctheir gains are going to be smaller than Nvidia\u2019s losses,\u201d said Chester Spatt, a finance professor at Carnegie Mellon University. But Spatt said he also anticipates chip purchasers could also become \u201cmuch more reluctant to concentrate their purchases with a single source.\u201d<\/p>\n The incident is also sure to prompt elected officials to seek stronger export controls<\/a> on American-made chips, but that could be a boon for Chinese chipmaker Huawei<\/a>, another Nvidia competitor. Lizzi C. Lee, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute\u2019s Center for China Analysis, said she suspects Chinese AI firms could accelerate efforts to secure overseas computing capacity ahead of tighter controls.<\/p>\n \u201cChinese chipmakers have already rallied on Nvidia\u2019s troubles, but China\u2019s AI developers depend heavily on Nvidia\u2019s ecosystem,\u201d she said. \u201cThis could be both an opportunity and a headache for China.\u201d<\/p>\n While Huang is not the only face of AI \u2014 OpenAI’s Sam Altman<\/a>, Google’s Demis Hassabis and Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton<\/a> are among the others \u2014 he’s been an influential one. A celebrity-level industry evangelist with President Donald Trump’s ear and support, he has advocated for a light touch on AI regulation and has been bullish about AI\u2019s potential<\/a> to transform society, creating faster economic growth and more scientific breakthroughs.<\/p>\n \u201cJensen Huang\u2019s resignation is a watershed moment for Nvidia, which now has to prove it can maintain its AI dominance without the leader largely responsible for building it,\u201d said Asa Hiken, a senior analyst for research firm eMarketer. \u201cAnd given the broader AI industry\u2019s heavy dependence on Nvidia\u2019s chips, Huang\u2019s departure introduces uncertainty well beyond the company itself.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee, of the Asia Society Policy Institute, said the resignation fallout will ripple across the AI ecosystem.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously Nvidia\u2019s technological leadership won\u2019t disappear, but Huang had played an outsized role as its chief strategist, dealmaker and \u2014 very importantly \u2014 political advocate, with close access to both Washington and Beijing,\u201d she said. \u201cThis happens at a critical juncture when markets are already questioning the sustainability of massive AI spending.\u201d<\/p>\n Huang\u2019s relationships across the tech landscape translated into Nvidia\u2019s numerous partnerships and investments into companies that purchase its chips. Colette Kress, Nvidia\u2019s CFO turned interim CEO<\/a>, has been a key force behind that strategy, but that approach is under closer scrutiny as the scandal and resignation have rattled the market. <\/p>\n CoreWeave, which buys Nvidia chips and then rents out access to them to customers over the cloud, closed down almost 7% on Thursday. Nvidia holds a nearly 13% stake in the company.<\/p>\n Leadership within companies across the tech sector likely spent much of Thursday in meetings aiming to figure out a \u201cbackup plan\u201d for some of their financing, Aldebert said. He described the circular financing practice as \u201cincestuous.\u201d<\/p>\n Many experts will be keeping a keen eye on what Huang\u2019s departure and its fallout mean for pending public debuts of AI companies like Anthropic\u2019s pending IPO, valued at $1.3 trillion<\/a>.<\/p>\n It also comes in the wake of midterm elections marked by hostility toward data centers, ushering in many Democrats promising aggressive stances on AI regulation.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is all very interconnected and I think that we\u2019re going to see a lot interesting dynamics happening the next month as it plays out,\u201d said Greenstein, of West Monroe.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP Business Writer Mae Anderson contributed to this story from New York.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n