From medical imaging to AI drug discovery: The 18-year Nvidia career of Kimberly Powell, now in the spotlight after Jensen Huang relationship report

Kimberly Powell has spent 18 years at Nvidia, moving from medical imaging to some of the company's biggest healthcare AI projects, including genomics and drug discovery. But the 48-year-old vice president is now in the headlines for a different reason.

The New York Times reported on November 11 that she had an intimate relationship with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, 63, who is her direct boss. The report cited five people who worked at the company and said the two were seen being affectionate in a video recorded at a San Jose hotel during an Nvidia conference in March. Powell is married, the newspaper reported.

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When the Times asked Huang about his relationship with Powell, he reportedly replied, "I don't think you should be talking to me directly," before ending the call. Powell and Nvidia had not responded to Business Insider's requests for comment as of November 12. Neither has confirmed the reported relationship.

The report comes as Nvidia is already dealing with another controversy involving Huang. The CEO recently told employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife, without naming anyone.

Separately, the company's board has been examining whether a technology executive with alleged links to Chinese intelligence targeted Huang. That case involves Alice Huang, not Kimberly Powell. Together, the developments have put the company's leadership, internal policies and board oversight under fresh scrutiny.

Who is Kimberly Powell and what is her role at Nvidia?

Powell is one of Nvidia's senior executives responsible for taking its AI computing technology beyond conventional chip applications. Her current role covers healthcare and life sciences, two areas where Nvidia wants to expand the use of accelerated computing and artificial intelligence.

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She joined Nvidia in 2008 as a director. Her initial responsibility was to establish Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) as computing accelerators for medical imaging equipment.

Before joining Nvidia, Powell worked in hardware engineering and product management at Planar Systems, where she focused on diagnostic imaging systems. She holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, with a concentration in computer engineering, from Northeastern University.

Her entry into Nvidia was not the result of a conventional executive recruitment process. On an August 2026 episode of the Lifers podcast, she explained that she had contacted Nvidia to discuss its computing technology. The company subsequently recognised its potential applications in healthcare and approached her about joining.

She described the opportunity as a "dream come true."

Powell's responsibilities grew over the years. Her LinkedIn profile says she became a senior director in 2016, leading an AI-focused business development team. In 2017, she was promoted to vice president of healthcare.

When she joined in 2008, one of the main opportunities was using GPUs to process medical images. Medical imaging systems generate large volumes of data, and GPUs can process many calculations simultaneously. This makes them useful for applications such as analysing CT scans, MRI images and other diagnostic images.

Over time, Nvidia expanded this approach into other parts of healthcare.

Its medical imaging platform, MONAI, provides tools for developing AI applications that analyse medical images. Its BioNeMo platform supports AI research in biology and drug discovery. Parabricks uses accelerated computing to process genomic data.

Powell's role has therefore expanded from promoting GPUs for imaging equipment to developing a wider computing and software ecosystem for healthcare companies, hospitals and pharmaceutical researchers.

According to her profile on the Milken Institute's website, she also oversees the global strategy and commercial expansion of these platforms.

Kimberly Powell report and Alice Huang investigation

The Powell report is the second major development involving Huang's personal relationships to emerge during Nvidia's current leadership crisis. But the two cases concern different women and different allegations.

The first involves Alice Huang, a technology executive associated with Megaspeed. The New York Times previously reported that US officials believed she might have been recruited by the Chinese government to gather information about Nvidia.

The allegations have raised national security questions because Nvidia makes some of the world's most advanced AI chips, which are subject to US export restrictions on sales to China.

Nvidia's board launched an investigation into whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort. The company has also faced scrutiny over its relationship with Alice Huang and the circumstances surrounding the alleged intelligence operation.

The issue has also reached Congress. Republican lawmakers have sought a closed-door briefing from Huang on his relationship with Alice Huang and the national security concerns surrounding Nvidia's business in China.

On November 11, Reuters reported that Nvidia's board had met to consider whether Huang should be removed as CEO. The Wall Street Journal separately reported that the board was preparing to oust him.

Nvidia has 11 board members, including Huang. Under the company's bylaws, a majority of directors can remove him, with or without cause. All directors other than Huang are considered independent.

As of November 12, no final removal decision had been publicly announced.

Reuters also reported that there was no obvious successor if Huang were removed. Nvidia's CFO Colette Kress and senior data-centre executive Ian Buck have been mentioned in discussions about possible leadership arrangements, but no successor has been announced.

Nvidia is scheduled to report its quarterly results on November 17.

Nvidia shares closed at $173.73 on November 11, gaining 2.87% during the regular session. However, the stock fell more than 8% in extended trading after reports that the board was considering Huang's future.

Reuters reported that Nvidia shares also fell around 7% in early Frankfurt trading on November 12. The company's market value had declined by roughly $600 billion since the board announced its investigation into the Alice Huang matter, according to the report.