Nvidia CEO Huang drops out of Anthropic, ElevenLabs events

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has pulled out of two AI industry events this week. He no longer plans to speak at the ElevenLabs Summit in New York on Wednesday, Nov. 11, and he has dropped off the program at a private CEO forum hosted by Anthropic, according to TechCrunch. The cancellations came a day after Huang told employees he had had an extramarital affair. Nvidia's board has also opened an investigation into whether he was the target of a foreign intelligence effort.techcrunch.com

Two empty slots

Anthropic is holding the forum in Montecito, California, this week, ahead of its expected IPO next week. Huang had been due to be interviewed by an Anthropic executive on Monday evening, a person familiar with the event told Business Insider. A second person said he was no longer expected to attend. Anthropic declined to comment. A source also told ABC News that Huang would not attend.businessinsider.com+1

At ElevenLabs, a voice AI startup that counts Nvidia as an investor, a spokesperson confirmed that Huang would not speak. He had been scheduled for a fireside chat with CEO Mati Staniszewski on "the future of AI," and the agenda now shows a closing keynote by Staniszewski alone, Business Insider reported. Huang's name and image briefly disappeared from the speaker page on Monday before reappearing. Other speakers at the summit include leaders from Ramp, McKinsey and Amazon Web Services Amazon.com, Inc. ↗ 2.94%.businessinsider.com

Admission and investigation

In a Sunday memo to staff, Huang wrote, "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry". He added, "I am fully committed to NVIDIA and will work to earn back your confidence," and said he would cooperate fully with the board's review. The memo did not name any other person.abcnews.com+2

A committee of independent directors, working with outside counsel, is running the investigation. It follows reporting in late October by The New York Times ↗ 5.57% that Huang had been targeted by a Chinese espionage effort centered on Alice Huang, an executive at the Singapore-based firm Megaspeed. The two are not related. U.S. officials had concluded she was passing information to Beijing.abcnews.com

Market and political fallout

Nvidia shares fell on Monday, the first trading session since the probe was announced. China has rejected the allegations. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday that the "'Chinese spy' allegation is purely unsubstantiated and directed at smearing China".businessinsider.com+1

According to TechCrunch, the episode has shaken the AI industry and raised questions about how long Huang will remain CEO and about Nvidia's ambitions in China.techcrunch.com