‘Why did you cheat?’: How sharing the Jensen Huang name became a blessing and a headache for AI founder | Today’s news
The 24-year-old software engineer and founder of an artificial intelligence startup has been dragged into the Jensen Huang extramarital affair scandal because he shares the same name as a former Nvidia executive.
Huang, the founder of artificial intelligence startup Lycana, has known the former Nvidia boss since his school days and remembers admiring him as a child, mainly because of his long-standing interest in computers, technology and construction.
According to a Business Insider report, people began to notice his name more often as artificial intelligence (AI) gained momentum. “Oh! Your name is exactly like that guy.” Or, “Hey, give me Nvidia stock,” the AI founder recalled hearing often.
Until then, he believed that sharing Huang’s name gave him a professional advantage. People outside his network remembered him more easily. Even after meeting someone just once, he often finds himself being recognized and saying, “It’s you! The CEO of Nvidia!”
The same association has repeatedly appeared in job interviews in the last four years. He said interviewers often greeted him with, “Oh yeah, you’re the CEO of Nvidia.”
His identical name also became a topic when he applied for positions at AI companies. During some interviews, recruiters jokingly asked him, “Do you have any extra GPUs?”
Affair news will turn the name match into an unexpected headache
However, things took a disturbing turn after reports surfaced revealing Jensen Huang’s extramarital affairs, including one with a woman accused of spying for China, leaving the AI founder stunned and in disbelief.
“Damn, my name is going to be dragged through the mud,” the AI founder said, adding that he struggled to process the following developments, noting, “I don’t even know how to react to this.”
The news also changed his view of Nvidia’s CEO. While he continues to recognize Huang’s professional achievements and considers his work visionary, he believes that these achievements should not shield anyone from criticism for their personal conduct. He said his admiration for Huang has diminished and that professional success does not justify such behavior.
Read also | Nvidia CEO Race: Could Jensen Huang’s Children Become Nvidia’s Next CEO?
Meanwhile, his friends didn’t miss an opportunity to tease him about the controversy. They approached him with remarks like, “Yeah, what are you doing with my stock?” and “How many girls are there this time?” Although he doesn’t find all the jokes particularly funny, he says he doesn’t take them personally.
At first, he decided to use the unusual situation to his advantage by posting funny posts on LinkedIn. He acted on the belief that there was no such thing as bad publicity and published the posts without foreseeing how widely they would circulate, the report added.
“Why did you cheat?”
However, the response was mixed. While several users understood the humor, others seemed to believe the posts came from the actual CEO of Nvidia. Some even directed questions at him about the alleged infidelity: Why did you cheat?
His biggest fear is that people who don’t know him personally might mistake him for the head of Nvidia. He said friends shared discussions about him on Reddit and RedNote, a Chinese social media platform.
In one case, someone took a screenshot of his LinkedIn post and shared it on RedNote, bringing his comments into discussions about Nvidia. He described it as a significant development because people who didn’t know him began to associate him directly with the controversy.
