'Bring back the boss': Jensen Huang gets alleged backing from Nvidia employees, with over 1,600 comments on internal post amid exit over affair and spy scandal

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's resignation on Thursday following revelations of an alleged extramarital affair that reportedly raised national security concerns has sent shockwaves through the tech industry. The chipmaker, a key player in the global AI boom, has named its executive vice president and CFO, Colette Kress, as interim CEO. Amid the exit, Huang has reportedly received backing from around 1,600 Nvidia employees, along with prominent technology leaders, including Elon Musk, highlighting the support he continues to command within the industry, reported WIRED.

Also read: The man in the leather jacket is gone, but new risk haunts AI firms

Earlier, a Reuters report claimed that Huang had an intimate relationship with a second employee at the chipmaker, taking the number of reported extramarital affairs involving the 63-year-old married executive to three.The resignation sent shares of Nvidia plummeting 14% at the opening bell, before stabilising. The stock closed down about 4% Thursday as investors pondered the lawsuits, investigations, likely corporate jockeying and the resilience of a market driven by the gains of a few tech giants.


The latest revelation follows reports of his relationships with Alice Huang, whom US intelligence suspects of being a Chinese spy, and Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care. The two earlier revelations preceded his resignation from the company on Thursday.

Also read: Jensen Huang quits as Nvidia CEO, putting $4 trillion empire in transition

Over 1,600 comments in support of Jensen Huang

Some Nvidia employees are calling for Jensen Huang’s return even after his multiple reported extramarital affairs and abrupt resignation, reported WIRED.

According the WIRED report, an internal “suggestion box” post submitted before Huang’s resignation by a longtime engineer at Nvidia urged the company’s board to take employee sentiment into consideration prior to taking any action. The submission has attracted more than 1,600 comments since then, with several asking board members to find a way to bring back Huang.

“If you believe in the mission, bring back THE boss,” wrote one anonymous commenter.

“We are all humans and can make mistakes. Jensen did so many good things and he needs a second chance,” another staffer commented.

One employee went as far as sending a companywide email demanding transparency into Huang’s exit. “I stand by Jensen,” the staffer wrote. “Not because I believe any person is infallible, but because I refuse to believe that standing for fairness must mean standing at a distance from someone whose leadership has meant so much to us.”

Big names in tech industry support Huang

Elon Musk has said it would be an “honor” to hire Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang after a social media post suggested that he bring the chipmaker's chief executive aboard.

Huang has also received public support from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, who urged Nvidia's board to retain him. Comparing a potential ouster to Apple's decision to fire Steve Jobs, Sweeney called it an act of “idiocy” that could seriously harm the US. He credited Huang with transforming Nvidia from a gaming graphics company into a leader in AI computing, citing his role in developing CUDA and AI supercomputers.

Anduril founder Palmer Luckey had also expressed interest in hiring Huang, saying that if China wanted him removed, he would want to bring him aboard. His comments were made before Nvidia confirmed the leadership change.

Meanwhile, Clement Delangue, co-founder and CEO of Hugging Face, said he was saddened by the developments. He said the company would step up its efforts to support open-source AI, adding that the work was too important to lose momentum.

Where investigations stand

Nvidia hasn't provided any notable new updates in its internal review announced Sunday. At the time, the company said it had “no reason to believe” that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, but that its inquiry would examine all available information.

Trump was reportedly briefed about intelligence findings involving Huang well before the scandal erupted publicly. But when asked over the weekend whether he wished he had acted sooner on that information, the president said “I don’t think so” and maintained that Nvidia’s CEO was an “honorable guy.”

Trump later said the FBI is looking into Huang's affair with Alice Huang, although where exactly that probe stands is unclear. Meanwhile, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill are calling for further investigations.

Many eyes have been on Nvidia’s ties to Singapore-based Megaspeed International, which prominently touts the companies’ partnership on its website. Last year, Megaspeed was accused of illicitly shipping advanced Nvidia computer chips into China, but in December said there was “no evidence” of such exports.

On Thursday, Megaspeed maintained it takes its obligation to comply with American export control laws “extremely seriously" — and that it was committed to working “constructively and transparently” with the U.S. government.

Singaporean authorities said they questioned Alice Huang and confiscated her passport last year as part of an investigation into Megaspeed. They concluded there wasn’t enough evidence that she had committed a crime, but suspected she provided “inaccurate information” to downplay her role at Megaspeed.

Malaysia said Friday it was investigating whether any of the chips brought into Malaysia by Megaspeed or its Malaysian affiliate Speedmatrix had been reexported to other country.

China, meanwhile, has denied that it attempted to ensnare Jensen Huang. Its Foreign Ministry earlier this week called the spying allegations “unsubstantiated” and said they amount to a smear campaign against Beijing.