India, Nov. 14 -- Nvidia's board of directors has initiated high-level discussions with Arm Holdings Chief Executive Rene Haas, sounding out the veteran semiconductor leader as a primary candidate to succeed Jensen Huang as permanent chief executive of the artificial intelligence titan.

The outreach marks a significant escalation in Nvidia's urgent executive search following Huang's abrupt resignation. According to financial industry sources familiar with the matter, the board has cast a wide net encompassing both internal engineering executives and prominent external semiconductor chiefs.

Haas, who spent seven years at Nvidia leading its computing products business before departing in 2013 to join Arm, brings deep institutional familia...