A 24-year-old AI startup founder in Singapore has found himself caught in an unusual situation after Nvidia's former CEO Jensen Huang resigned amid reports of extramarital affairs. The young entrepreneur, who shares the same name as the technology billionaire, says the controversy has unexpectedly brought attention and customers to his business.
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According to a Business Insider report, Jensen Huang, a Singapore-based software engineer and founder of AI startup Lycana, has spent years being mistaken for the Nvidia co-founder.
Sharing a name with Nvidia's former CEO
Huang said he had admired the Nvidia founder since childhood and developed an early interest in computing. At 16, he persuaded his mother to buy him a GTX 1080 graphics card, which he used for gaming and programming.
As Nvidia became central to the AI boom, his name increasingly attracted attention during professional interactions.
{{/usCountry}}As Nvidia became central to the AI boom, his name increasingly attracted attention during professional interactions.
{{/usCountry}}"Most of the job interviews I've had in the last four years have said, 'Oh yeah, you're the Nvidia CEO.' I think that has given me a particular edge when it comes to employment," he told Business Insider.
He said recruiters sometimes jokingly asked whether he had spare GPUs.
Nvidia scandal brings unwanted attention
The situation changed after Huang resigned from Nvidia on November 12, following reports about his personal relationships.
"My first thought was: Holy crap, my name's going to be dragged through the mud," the younger Huang recalled.
His friends began teasing him about Nvidia's falling stock price and the allegations surrounding its former chief executive.
The entrepreneur also shared humorous LinkedIn posts about the coincidence, but the reaction went beyond his expectations.
Some users apparently believed he was Nvidia's former CEO, while screenshots of his posts circulated on Reddit and Chinese social media platform RedNote.
Unexpected publicity benefits AI startup
Despite concerns about his reputation, Huang said the attention had delivered tangible benefits to Lycana.
"There are more eyes on what I'm building. I saw a 5,000-viewer spike from visitors who came to the site because of it. A few people bought subscriptions," he said.
(Also read: Jensen Huang’s Nvidia exit triggers AI meme wave powered by the very chips he built)
He has also applied to Y Combinator and other venture capital-backed accelerator programmes.
Huang believes investors value founders who can successfully market themselves, and the unexpected publicity could help him stand out.
"If this is what it takes for them to notice me, then hey, I'm all for it," he said.