Jensen Huang stepped down as chief executive of Nvidia on Nov. 12 after Secretary of State Marco Rubio presented a critical intelligence memo to President Donald Trump.
Intelligence Memo Triggers Exit
The departure followed a prolonged struggle between the technology industry and China hawks in Washington. Rubio intervened by sending a special memo to the president that processed an intelligence report in a critical light. The memo warned about Huang and alleged ties to a Chinese spy. Beijing criticized these actions.
Huang had secured direct access to Trump. He persuaded Trump to approve sales of advanced artificial intelligence chips to China in exchange for a share of revenue.
Thanks to @maureendowd for the shout-out to my Atlantic essay in her new column on the downfall of Jensen Huang: As Julian Gewirtz wrote in The Atlantic, “American strategy has come to depend, to an extraordinary degree, on powerful private-sector actors whose incentives the…
Officials in Trump administration opposed that influence. One official said “I work for the American people,” as reported by The Washington Post.
Political Spending Shapes Policy
Anthropic contributed $20 million to Public First Action in February and another $20 million in July to support stricter AI safety rules and chip export controls. Lawmakers pressed Nvidia over China chip sales and called for tighter export limits in 2026. Public First Action announced a separate $15 million campaign on July 17 to promote Republican lawmakers supporting strict AI regulation.
More than 100K people have reportedly signed an open letter calling for Jensen Huang’s reinstatement as $NVDA CEO. 10% chance he returns. pic.twitter.com/LlxGuzCphv
Reps. Brian Mast and John Moolenaar sent a letter on Nov. 4 with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford to seek a closed-door interview with Huang. The three lawmakers followed up on Nov. 12 by writing to Nvidia and the Commerce Department to urge Congress to pass stricter chip export limits.
Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on China, addressed the departure. Jensen Huang resignation from the company is an unfortunate end that could have been avoided, he told India Today.
Board Faces Reinstatement Petition
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, and Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke joined an online petition titled “Stand with Jensen” to urge Nvidia’s board to reinstate the executive while an independent investigation establishes facts regarding the allegations, JournalArta reported. Musk announced his backing on X. “A petition is underway to reinstate Jensen and I'm signing it too,” he wrote.
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress stepped in as interim CEO to run the company during the leadership search. Nvidia shares fell more than 2% in regular trading, JournalArta reported.
Elon Musk says a petition to reinstate Jensen Huang as $NVDA CEO is underway and that he plans to sign it. That comes as Nvidia employees are already pushing for Jensen’s return. pic.twitter.com/nOur0HR0sD
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning criticized the actions during a briefing. The United States must stop fabricating spy stories about China and avoid using them as a pretext for a technological blockade, Mao said, Zamin.uz reported.
Earlier coverage: Nvidia Launches Probe Into Jensen Huang Over Intelligence Reports