Jensen Huang, the CEO and co-founder of the world’s most prominent chip company, has allegedly been honey-trapped by a suspected Chinese spy, and the news has struck the internet like a match to gasoline.
Huang has long been seen as a wife guy (or so everyone assumed). He and his wife, Lori, have been together since the 1980s, and both of their children work at Nvidia. Huang has been the closest thing the tech world has to a rock star, with fans lining up for selfies and autographs. Of all the AI overlords, the leather-jacket wearing Huang has seemed like the most level-headed and least erratic, which is why this plot twist has hit so hard.
The potential fallout is mind-boggling. Nvidia looms so large over the U.S. stock market that even the company’s domestic drama is a market risk. Countless AI startups depend on Nvidia chips, so any shake-up at the top would ripple far beyond the company. And Nvidia has no publicly disclosed succession plan, so if Huang leaves, it’s unclear who’d take over.
Is this how the AI bubble bursts? It’s a question that will be answered in time, but in the meantime, a more pressing matter demands our attention: ranking the funniest memes about the scandal, with bonus points for AI images presumably generated using Nvidia chips.
There’s admittedly a lot to choose from, ranging from “500 Days of Summer” jokes to jokes about divorce lawyers to an AI-adaptation of the music video for Usher‘s song “Confessions Pt. II,” a track about cheating. Another person created a viral AI video that recreates the Coldplay concert where a startup CEO was caught on the Jumbotron hugging a colleague.
Huang publicly confessed to the affair just yesterday, so the internet has the rest of the week to get creative.
For the sake of the US economy I really hope Jensen's wife can be chill about this.
if i had a billionaire husband and no prenup, i’d introduce him to the Chinese spy myself https://t.co/BnFD2XmvSg
Jensen, why would I deceive you? pic.twitter.com/KWz6S3mxUq
“AI will replace you”. I’d like to see AI become CEO of a multitrillion company and destroy its marriage and lose over $1.6T because it had an affair with a spy.
Not enough people talking about how betrayed Jensen Huang must feel right now. Found a mistress he can talk about semiconductors with and she was lying to him the whole time. He must be heartbroken
The real crisis: every SF founder now thinks he's worth spying on
Jensen Huang on Monday morning pic.twitter.com/y60dfyrVos
Me and Jensen Huang’s ex wife after she gets half his money in the divorce. pic.twitter.com/xWAOhzXYVk
https://t.co/2ZR6cRodLZ pic.twitter.com/XM5ZaXrd1H
Breaking NewsCIA reportedly deploying Sydney Sweeney to China 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/ss1trtBXaO
jensen what the fuck pic.twitter.com/E0g1tiwVGz
Jensen Huang’s wife divorce lawyers right now pic.twitter.com/QE3EEOtE71
Jensen Huang after learning about the Chinese honeypot scandal pic.twitter.com/HehLQ7zlB8
Yes, the internet is having a field day with this one.
As usual, AI-generated content is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Copyleaks, a software company that analyzes online content for signs of AI and digital manipulation, said Monday that it had seen “an explosion in AI-manipulated photos and videos of Huang and Alice Huang, ranging from memes to more subtle edits.” The tally includes at least 70 AI-related posts on X, which together drew around 8.42 million views and 64,362 engagements as of Monday morning. Those metrics have almost certainly climbed since.
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Dominic-Madori Davis is a senior venture capital and startup reporter at TechCrunch. She is based in New York City.
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