An Nvidia engineer says he's quitting because Jensen Huang was ousted: 'So disappointing'
Jensen Huang resigned from Nvidia this week after admitting to an affair. Erik Flyg/Bloomberg via Getty Images An Nvidia engineer said he left the company after former CEO Jensen Huang resigned. Huang resigned last week after admitting to an affair. The board is investigating whether Huang was the " target of a foreign intelligence effort." An Nvidia engineer said he's left the company because of former CEO Jensen Huang's departure . Darrell Dai, a senior research engineer in the company's robotics sector in Shanghai who has worked at Nvidia for a little over a year, according to his LinkedIn profile, announced the decision in an X post on Saturday. At the time of writing, the post had amassed over 104,000 likes. "Jensen's vision and the engineering culture he shaped were important reasons I wanted to stay. His departure led me to decide that my own chapter here should also come to a close," Dai wrote. In the post, Dai wrote that he admires Huang's "willingness to invest in a future that was not yet obvious," citing the tech founder's commitment to CUDA and positioning the company for the AI boom. What matters most, Dai wrote, however, is the culture Huang established at Nvidia. "Engineers are encouraged to explore, take risks, and learn from mistakes. Jensen reads employees' Top 5 emails, follows their work, and engages directly. In a company this large, that connection matters. It makes an individual engineer feel that their ideas can still be heard," Dai said. He added, "That is why this has been so disappointing." Nvidia's board of directors is now searching for a new CEO after Huang resigned on Thursday. Earlier in the week, Huang admitted to having an affair, and Nvidia launched an investigation into whether he was "the target of a foreign intelligence effort." The New York Times and Reuters later in the week reported that Huang had also developed relationships with two Nvidia employees. Nvidia's board of directors says it is considering both internal and external candidates, and there's already a number of names in the ether, including former Apple CEO Tim Cook. Meanwhile, a growing movement that includes some Silicon Valley heavyweights is urging the board to reinstate Huang . Elon Musk and Replit CEO Amjad Masad have promoted a petition demanding the board bring Huang back. "Organizers and signers are concerned that Jensen may have been forced out without due process and without even a few days to make his case. It's exactly why we are asking the NVIDIA Board to explain," the organizers said on the "Stand with Jensen" campaign's website. Others, however, say Huang's behavior was too reckless to bring him back. Yorkville's senior managing director, Dan Ives, said he doesn't see Huang making a comeback at Nvidia. In an X post, Ives said "no one individual" can replace Huang, but his era is coming to an end. "We see no chance Jensen comes back to Nvidia as CEO. It's about moving forward for Nvidia and it starts Tuesday with earnings as Colette leads NVDA ahead (for now)," Ives said on Sunday. Ives called the idea "ridiculous" given the "legal/Board/DC scrutiny/moral compass/China tentacles." Last week, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, wrote on X that Huang's resignation doesn't absolve him, executives, or the company of "responsibility for putting our national security at risk or for any potential violations of our laws." In his X post, Dai said the most difficult aspect of the situation is coming to terms with Huang's resignation before receiving a proper explanation. "I have felt that engineers' perspectives matter here. On this decision, I have not felt heard," he said. "That gap has been more painful than I expected." Dai said he understood that some aspects of the situation can't be shared immediately, but that doesn't change the feeling of being left out of a decision that impacts the entire company. "A company's greatness comes from its leadership, its governance, and the people who turn its ambitions into reality. Employees' trust and sense of belonging are part of that, too," Dai wrote. Business Insider has reached out to Nvidia and Dai for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider