Elon Musk, Bill Ackman back NVIDIA chief Huang amid controversy

New Delhi, November 9 (IANS): Tesla CEO Elon Musk and billionaire investor Bill Ackman on Monday backed NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang amid a controversy, urging people to support the technology leader and his family and endorsing a defence of Huang’s importance to US artificial intelligence leadership.

Taking to the social media platform X, Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, said Huang was human and that even exceptional individuals could make mistakes.

Ackman said Huang had taken responsibility for his actions and urged people to stand by him and his family.

“An alert: @JensenHuang is human. And he is an incredible human. Even incredible humans make mistakes. He takes full responsibility as he should. We should all support him and his family. Onward,” Ackman wrote.

In another post, Ackman clarified that he was not suggesting Huang should receive a “free pass”, adding that the nature of the controversy would determine its seriousness.

“I like the guy. He has done a lot of good for the world and I hope the damage here is minimal,” he said, adding that he hoped the issue was limited to a personal affair rather than a national security risk.

Separately, Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire described Huang as “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of this generation”, while acknowledging that the NVIDIA chief had made a serious mistake.

Maguire listed five points in his post, saying Huang had done something “incredibly dumb” and that it was “bad for America”. However, he added that he believed there was probably no malicious intention behind the actions.

“Two mistakes don't make a right, and I believe Jensen is irreplaceable for America's AI leadership,” Maguire wrote.

Musk responded to Maguire’s post with a brief endorsement, saying, “I agree.”

Meanwhile, NVIDIA’s board of directors announced that it was launching an independent investigation following reports that Huang had been targeted by a Chinese espionage operation.

The board said in a statement that it was initiating an independent investigation in light of recent reports that the company’s founder and CEO had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort.

The reports came after Huang acknowledged having an affair with a former executive at a Singapore-based chip company. US policymakers have alleged that the woman involved had been recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security to spy on NVIDIA’s CEO.

Meanwhile, Huang sent an email to NVIDIA employees, apologising to his family and the company’s staff.

“I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry. Throughout my life, my family has given me love and support. They deserve my honesty and loyalty. Instead, I let them down and damaged the life we built together. I take full responsibility for what I did and the hurt I caused, and I accept the criticism that comes with it,” Huang wrote.

The developments come amid a broader debate over Huang’s role in maintaining US leadership in artificial intelligence, given NVIDIA’s central position in the global AI chip industry.