Nvidia Employees Reportedly Rally Behind Huang Even As Congress Seeks Answers On China Spy Scandal

The Nvidia fallout is increasingly becoming a national security and government issue.

• Three House committees have directed Huang to appear for a closed-door testimony on Dec. 1.
• Commerce ​Secretary Howard Lutnick is also under pressure as lawmakers flag the department's oversight in the spy scandal.
• NVDA shares have slid 11% so far this week as of Thursday, although retail sentiment on Stocktwits has held in the ‘extremely bullish’ zone.

Several Nvidia (NVDA) employees have reportedly petitioned the company to bring back Jensen Huang, who resigned as CEO on Thursday after his multiple illicit affairs came to light, even as the executive faces a government inquiry for his involvement with a suspected Chinese spy.

An internal “suggestion box” post submitted before Huang’s resignation by a longtime Nvidia engineer urged the company’s board to consider employee sentiment before taking any action, Wired reported. 

The submission attracted more than 1,600 comments since then, with many asking board members to find a way to bring back Huang, according to the report.

Nvidia shares were down 1.3% in overnight trading ahead of Friday. Shares have slid 11% so far this week as of Thursday, though retail sentiment on Stocktwits has held in the ‘extremely bullish’ zone.

Officials Criticize Commerce Dept.’s Lax Nvidia Oversight

Meanwhile, three House committees have directed Huang to appear for closed-door testimony on Dec. 1, or risk subpoenas, according to an X post by the Select Committee on China. Earlier in the day, CNBC reported Huang had agreed to testify before Congress before Thanksgiving.

Although Nvidia said Huang has no relationship with the company anymore, the fallout risks becoming a national security and government issue. Lawmakers are scrutinizing why the Commerce Department investigation into Megaspeed was stalled last year and whether Huang ended up sharing company or U.S. secrets with the suspected spy.

Senior White House officials are discussing whether Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should be pushed out, Reuters reported, citing sources, as more lawmakers criticize the administration's refusal to add dozens of Chinese companies to a key U.S. trade blacklist.

“Secretary Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear voluntarily before the Banking Committee to address their questions,” Kristen Eichamer, a spokesperson for Lutnick, told NBC News.

Huang’s Exit

Huang, 63, admitted to being unfaithful to his wife over the weekend and, since then, has been linked to at least three women, including former Megaspeed executive and suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang and two subordinates at Nvidia. Nvidia on Thursday named CFO Colette Kress interim CEO while it searches for a permanent replacement and investigates Huang’s conduct.

Huang looked broken and shattered, his legendary energy depleted, and he had started using phrases like “whatever” and “I don’t care” in the few weeks leading up to his resignation on Thursday, Bloomberg reported. He even called himself a “piece of sh--” at one point, according to the report. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that Huang also belittled Kress in one of the meetings earlier. Kress had questioned some of Huang’s dealmaking and, in a meeting, called her “a deer in the headlights,” according to the report.

At the time, Huang also said major cloud providers were running away from Nvidia, planning to use alternative chips and lessen their reliance on the firm. 

Nvidia has investments in several chip, cloud, and AI infrastructure companies, which critics have called “circular financing.”

“The Big Short” investor Michael Burry said the custom-chip challenge to Nvidia is something he and other critics have been outlining since last year. He added: “The sheer enormity of it all. far greater than illicit affairs.”

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