CALIFORNIA: Nvidia's board of directors has approached Arm Chief Executive Rene Haas as it searches for a potential successor to lead the $4 trillion artificial intelligence chipmaker, the Financial Times reported.
Haas has served as chief executive of British chip designer Arm, backed by SoftBank, since 2022. He previously worked at Nvidia for nearly seven years more than a decade ago and maintains close relationships with Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang and some members of the company's board.
Huang stepped down on Thursday after 33 years at the helm of Nvidia following revelations about alleged extramarital relationships with female employees.
According to the report, Haas is regarded as a close associate and protégé of Huang and is among the potential candidates being considered for the top position. However, there is no guarantee that he will be offered the job or accept it.
Nvidia's board is seeking to stabilise the world's leading artificial intelligence chipmaker amid allegations that Huang had relationships with at least one subordinate and a business client. US intelligence agencies reportedly suspect that the client was involved in spying for China.
Sources said Haas is among several candidates being considered to replace Huang, although no final decision has been made.
In a statement, Nvidia's board said it was in the process of selecting an executive search firm to help identify candidates for the chief executive position. It added that no formal approach had yet been made to any candidate and that speculation about individual contenders, whether internal or external, was premature.
Finding a permanent successor to Huang presents a major challenge for Nvidia, as the co-founder exercised significant influence over key company decisions and enjoyed exceptional popularity among employees and investors.
Huang's alleged relationships reportedly included Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Nvidia client Megaspeed, whom US intelligence agencies suspect of having links to Chinese espionage.
Besides Haas, other potential external candidates include AMD Chief Executive Lisa Su. Internal contenders reportedly include Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress and Ian Buck, who heads the company's data centre business.
Arm technology is used in chips powering most of the world's smartphones. Nvidia also uses Arm's intellectual property-based technology in its artificial intelligence hardware.
However, Arm introduced its own complete artificial intelligence chip this year, putting the British company in direct competition with some of its existing customers, including Nvidia.
