[Financial News] The CEO of U.K. semiconductor design company Arm has emerged as a candidate for the vacant CEO position at NVIDIA. Citing sources, the Financial Times (FT) reported on the 13th (local time) that NVIDIA’s board is in contact with Arm CEO Rene Haas. Haas has led Arm, in which Japan’s SoftBank holds a stake, since 2022. Haas also worked at NVIDIA for about seven years more than a decade ago. The FT reported that Haas still has close ties with some members of NVIDIA’s board, including Jensen Huang. The sources added that Haas is one of several candidates, and that it has not been decided whether Haas will be offered the CEO position and accept it. NVIDIA, the heart of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, is currently facing the biggest crisis in its history. After CEO Huang admitted to an affair with Alice Huang, who is suspected of being a Chinese spy, news also broke of an affair within the company, leaving it with an unprecedented leadership vacuum. Jensen Huang announced on the 12th that he would step down from the CEO position he had held for 33 years, and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Colette Kress became interim CEO. Haas is considered one of the few outsiders who could lead NVIDIA, alongside AMD CEO Lisa Su. Internally, CFO Colette Kress and Ian Buck, head of NVIDIA’s data center business, are also being considered. Jensen Huang also mentored Haas until Haas moved to Arm in 2013. Against this backdrop, NVIDIA tried to acquire Arm for $40 billion in 2020, but the deal ultimately fell through that autumn after opposition from U.K. regulators. Arm’s business is built on intellectual property for foundational semiconductor designs. Most of the world’s smartphone chips are based on Arm’s designs, and NVIDIA’s AI chips use them as well. Arm, which had focused on licensing its intellectual property, expanded into designing its own AI chips this year. It has become a direct competitor to customers such as NVIDIA. Meanwhile, Haas is also particularly close to SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son (known in Korea by the name Son Jeong-ui). Haas is helping SoftBank build an AI empire. Last April, Haas also took charge of SoftBank’s international business division. Son’s close ties with U.S. President Donald Trump are also likely to help Haas be selected as NVIDIA’s CEO. [email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter