Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is facing mounting uncertainty over his future at the technology giant after reports emerged that its board was considering his removal amid scrutiny of his personal relationships.
The controversy stems from the 63-year-old executive’s public admission to an extramarital affair with an alleged Chinese spy, as well as a separate bombshell revelation that he was also involved with an employee under his direct supervision.
Highlights
- Elon Musk expressed willingness to hire Jensen Huang after an X user urged him to bring him on board.
- Bill Ackman and Sequoia Capital's Shaun Maguire also voiced their support for Huang.
- Nvidia's shares plunged following reports that the company was considering ousting its longtime CEO.
While the former scandal is said to have raised security concerns within the technology giant, Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk appears to have a rather different take on the situation.
His response to a netizen urging him to hire Huang quickly went viral.
Elon Musk made a surprising declaration about Jensen Huang amid his uncertain position at Nvidia
Ties between Jensen Huang and the alleged Chinese spy, Alice Huang, reportedly spanned at least two years, from late 2023 to 2025.
Meanwhile, the subordinate the Nvidia chief allegedly dated was identified as Kimberly Powell, the company’s 48-year-old vice president of healthcare.
Although Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife of more than 40 years and apologized to his family for his involvement with Alice, he has yet to address the latter allegations.
The latter allegations, published by The New York Times, meanwhile, are also supposed to have especially triggered the board of directors to consider an action, given Nvidia’s corporate policies instruct employees to avoid situations that could compromise their professional judgment.
Amid the potential shake-up at the company, an X user tagged Musk in a post that read, “please hire Jensen.”
He was quick to respond, writing, “That would be an honor.”
Although the exchange did not amount to a formal employment offer or confirm that Huang would for sure be dismissed from Nvidia, it quickly attracted attention, with several platform users joining the discussion.
“Elon doesn’t care who anyone slept with as long as they are an asset to the company,” one person quipped.
Another took the joke a step further, remarking, “Elon can learn from Jensen how to make chips, and Jensen can learn from Elon how to have lots of kids without getting into trouble.”
A third, meanwhile, offered a different interpretation, suggesting Nvidia would not want its CEO to join a major competitor in the AI market.
“Elon just saved Jensen his Nvidia job,” they argued.
The billionaire pair's friendship, meanwhile, dates back at least a decade.
Musk and Huang’s respective roles in advancing artificial intelligence have brought them closer over the years
Nvidia has supplied the graphics processing units (GPUs) that power many of Musk’s projects.
These specialized computer chips are designed to handle large numbers of calculations simultaneously, making them particularly useful for training and running AI models.
In August 2016, Huang personally handed Musk the original DGX-1 supercomputer.
Nearly a decade later, he delivered a new DGX Spark to the entrepreneur at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas this October.
Musk publicly praised their longstanding association on X during the latter occasion, writing, “Old friends are the best friends. Jensen rocks.”
He also revealed that a new computer named StarMind was being co-engineered by SpaceX and Nvidia and was expected to enter volume production next year.
Musk, however, is not the only prominent figure standing by Huang amid the controversy.
Several business and technology leaders have voiced their support for the Nvidia CEO
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman was among the first to publicly defend Jensen Huang, describing him as an “incredible” individual who had made a mistake.
In a post on X, the Pershing Square Capital Management CEO acknowledged that Huang had taken “full responsibility for his actions” and urged people to “support him and his family” during their difficult time.
Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire also weighed in, calling Huang “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of this generation.”
Although he noted that the executive had made a serious error, Maguire argued that his contribution to American leadership in artificial intelligence made him “irreplaceable.”
Musk appeared to share that assessment, responding to Maguire’s post with a brief, “I agree.”
Reports of Nvidia planning to oust Huang followed the company previously expressing faith in his leadership
On November 8, Nvidia’s board announced an investigation following claims that its founder and CEO had been targeted in a foreign intelligence operation.
The review was to be overseen by a committee of independent directors, with assistance from outside counsel.
At the time, Nvidia emphasized that it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets had been compromised.
The board also voiced confidence in Huang's leadership, noting that the executive fully supported the inquiry and had pledged to cooperate.
A company spokesperson subsequently reiterated that Huang intended to remain in charge.
“Jensen is committed to continuing to lead NVIDIA as CEO without interruption,” the spokesperson said.
Nvidia's shares, however, plunged sharply this week.
According to Al Jazeera, the company's stock fell 8.6% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, November 11.
The outlet reported that the decline reflected investor concerns about the possibility of losing the executive widely credited with steering the organization's extraordinary growth during the AI boom.
Jay Goldberg, a senior analyst at Seaport Research Partners, told Al Jazeera that Huang's importance to the company would make finding a replacement particularly difficult.
"Jensen is Nvidia; without him, the company loses its central, animating spirit," he said.
"Someone like Jensen will not work for another CEO," a social media user predicted
