Just days after Jensen Huang suddenly resigned from his position at Nvidia, an Nvidia Robot Research Engineer said that he would leave the company as well. But more than just showing support for the former CEO with a generic “I stand with Jensen” message, Darrel Dai laid out several reasons for the decision on X.
I’ve decided to leave NVIDIA. There are a few things I want to say.As a robotics engineer at NVIDIA, I have seen Jensen as much more than the company’s CEO.I admire his willingness to invest in a future that was not yet obvious. He committed to CUDA long before the deep learning boom and positioned NVIDIA for AI before it became everyone’s priority. Those decisions helped build the infrastructure that powers today’s AI.I have seen that same vision in physical AI: investing in robotics, sharing open-source tools and projects, and building computing platforms that bring AI into the physical world. This is the work I do every day—and a future I believe in.But what matters most to me is the culture he helped build.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.That is why this has been so disappointing.I do not have all the facts surrounding the allegations, and I cannot prejudge the investigation. My admiration for Jensen does not put him above scrutiny.What I find difficult to accept is having to come to terms with his departure before receiving an explanation that helps me understand it. What this means for our direction, our culture, and the people doing the work remains unclear to me.I have felt that engineers’ perspectives matter here. On this decision, I have not felt heard. That gap has been more painful than I expected.I understand that some information cannot be shared immediately. But that does not erase the feeling of being left outside a decision that affects the company we help build every day.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.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.I leave with sadness and gratitude. The colleagues I have worked with, and the work we believed in together, will always matter to me.These are my personal views.November 15, 2026
“What I find difficult to accept is having to come to terms with his departure before receiving an explanation that helps me understand it. What this means for our direction, our culture, and the people doing the work remains unclear to me,” the engineer posted. “I have felt that engineers’ perspectives matter here. On this decision, I have not felt heard. That gap has been more painful than I expected.”
It seems that Jensen Huang has gained the respect of the people working under him, with many calling for his reinstatement despite the many controversies he is currently facing. There’s also an online petition demanding that the Nvidia board “Bring Jensen Back,” with over 150,000 signatures at the time of writing.
Nvidia is centered around Jensen Huang, with the former chief executive reportedly having a small army of 60 people directly reporting to him. But despite his busy schedule and legendary persona, Dai said that “Jensen reads employees’ Top 5 emails, follows their work, and engages directly,” and that “It makes an individual engineer feel that their ideas can still be heard.” Dai also pointed out that “employees’ trust and sense of belonging” are part of what makes a company great. More importantly, Nvidia is known as one of the tech companies with the most generous pay packages. Jensen was even quoted saying, “I pay my employees as much as I can.”
It remains unclear what the former Nvidia CEO will do after all these issues. Elon Musk has already said on X that “it would be an honor” to hire Jensen Huang, especially as he’s embarking on his own ambitious chipmaking journey. As for the employees left behind at Nvidia, some are staying and have shown their full support to interim CEO Colette Kress, while many more want him back. However, there has also been talk that various Silicon Valley tech and semiconductor firms are aggressively attempting to poach Nvidians, although these are just rumors so far.
