PiCK

Summary

  • Amid the controversy over former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s departure, 120,000 people signed a petition calling for his return within 24 hours.
  • Silicon Valley heavyweights including Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen have joined the campaign, calling for Huang’s reinstatement and for Nvidia to disclose how the decision to remove him was made.
  • The report said conspiracy theories have emerged that developers of closed AI models were behind Huang’s ouster, while Nvidia’s board has begun searching for a new chief executive and has contacted candidates including Arm CEO Rene Haas.

Forecast Trend Report by Period

Musk, Andreessen and other heavyweights join push

Calls grow for his return after ouster without a chance to respond

Women founders criticize alleged abuse of power

Conspiracy theories point to closed-model AI companies

More than 120,000 people signed an online petition calling for former Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang to return within 24 hours of its launch. The campaign has drawn support from Silicon Valley figures including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, widening the dispute over Huang’s departure. At the same time, some women founders have criticized Huang over alleged abuse of power, underscoring a deep split across Silicon Valley.

As of 3 p.m. on Nov. 14, the website Stand with Jensen had collected more than 120,000 signatures calling for Huang’s reinstatement. The site had gone live only 24 hours earlier. It was reportedly created by anonymous Nvidia employees and calls for Huang to be restored to his post and for the company to disclose how the decision to remove him was made.

The site’s operators argue that Huang may have been forced out without due process or a chance to defend himself. They say the circumstances surrounding his departure should be fully clarified, given that he spent the past 33 years building Nvidia into the world’s largest artificial intelligence chipmaker.

Silicon Valley heavyweights have also joined the campaign. The petition website listed names including Musk, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan and Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen. Altimeter Capital CEO Brad Gerstner also urged Nvidia’s board to leave open the possibility of Huang’s return and to choose a successor carefully.

The dispute has also stirred unease among women in tech. Anne Wojcicki, founder of 23andMe, wrote that power corrupts and that people do foolish things when they think they are invincible. Wojcicki married Google co-founder Sergey Brin in 2007 and divorced him in 2015 after reports emerged that Brin had an affair with a Google employee. Tara Sharp, a former Google executive, said women in group chats were expressing anger and frustration over the Huang episode.

Conspiracy theories have also emerged that companies developing closed AI models were behind Huang’s exit. The claim is that OpenAI and Anthropic stand to benefit if Huang, a major backer of open AI models, is no longer at Nvidia. Angel investor Jason Calacanis said on the All-In podcast on Nov. 14 that Nvidia had lost its CEO just as Anthropic was preparing for a large initial public offering, citing Nvidia’s role as a major financial supporter of open-source AI.

Nvidia’s board is moving quickly to find a new chief executive in an effort to limit disruption. The Financial Times reported that the board had contacted Arm CEO Rene Haas. Nvidia’s board denied it had formally approached candidates and said it was too early to discuss a successor.

Kim In-yeop, Silicon Valley correspondent, Hankyung.com [email protected]

Korea Economic Daily