A Denny’s restaurant in San Jose, California, has removed the plaque that marked the booth where Nvidia was founded, adding an unexpected twist to the controversy surrounding former chief executive Jensen Huang. The plaque’s disappearance was reported after Huang’s resignation amid reports of alleged relationships with multiple women.

A Denny’s restaurant in San Jose, California, has removed the plaque that marked the booth where Nvidia was founded, adding an unexpected twist to the controversy surrounding former chief executive Jensen Huang. The plaque’s disappearance was reported after Huang’s resignation amid reports of alleged relationships with multiple women.

The booth at the Denny’s on Berryessa Drive holds a place in Silicon Valley history. In 1993, Huang and Nvidia co-founders Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem met there to discuss an idea for chips that could deliver realistic 3D graphics on personal computers. That conversation eventually led to the creation of Nvidia, now a force in artificial intelligence.

The restaurant installed the commemorative plaque in September 2023, above the booth associated with the company’s beginnings. It carried the inscription: "The booth that launched a $1 trillion company." An employee confirmed that the plaque had been taken down on Thursday night, according to SFGATE. However, neither the restaurant nor its parent company has explained who ordered its removal.

The timing has drawn attention because the plaque disappeared around the time Huang stepped down from Nvidia. His departure followed reports of alleged relationships, including claims involving women connected to the company and a separate controversy surrounding businesswoman Alice Huang. These claims have prompted scrutiny, but remain allegations.

Denny’s had previously embraced its connection to Nvidia’s origin story. In 2025, it introduced a limited-time "Nvidia Breakfast Bytes" meal at a technology conference, inspired by Huang’s reported habit of rolling sausages in pancakes and dipping them in syrup. The chain had also run a "next trillion-dollar idea" contest, offering a $25,000 seed fund.

Denny’s appeared to acknowledge the controversy on its official X account. On the day Nvidia announced Huang’s resignation, the account posted: "in the club shaking it somberly."

The plaque’s removal has therefore become a symbolic footnote to a corporate story: a company conceived over diner food, later valued among the world’s biggest technology businesses, now facing an abrupt leadership upheaval. The booth itself remains part of the restaurant’s dining room. Denny’s has not said whether the plaque or other Nvidia-themed promotions will return.