Elon Musk says he would hire Jensen Huang

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (left) and Nvidia's Jensen Huang. Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images Elon Musk said he would hire Jensen Huang if Nvidia's board removes its longtime CEO."That would be an honor," Musk wrote on X Wednesday evening, responding to a post from financial news account ZeroHedge that said: "Elon please hire Jensen."The exchange came soon after The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia's board was preparing to oust Huang following revelations about two extramarital relationships.One involved a woman whom US intelligence officials suspect of spying for China, according to WSJ and other news organizations including The New York Times. That allegation has not been independently confirmed by Business Insider.Musk's response recalls another Silicon Valley scandal.In 2010, Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison publicly defended Mark Hurd after Hewlett-Packard's board forced him out following an investigation involving allegations of sexual harassment and inaccurate expense reports. The board found no evidence of harassment but ousted Hurd over expense-reporting issues.Ellison went a step further, hiring Hurd as Oracle's co-president just weeks later. Hurd eventually became Oracle's co-CEO, before passing away in 2019.Huang, who cofounded Nvidia in 1993, has become one of the most influential figures in the AI industry. His company's chips power much of the AI boom.Musk's companies are major users of AI computing technology and are huge buyers of Nvidia GPUs, making Huang's expertise incredibly valuable. For now, Musk's comment is an expression of interest, not a formal job offer.Sign up for the AI Insider newsletter here. Reach out to me via email at abarr@businessinsider.com Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Alistair Barr is the driving force behind Business Insider's AI Insider franchise, including the AI Insider newsletter. Sign up here. Before that, he was Business Insider's Global Tech Editor and the Big Tech team leader at Bloomberg, following a reporting career at The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Reuters, and MarketWatch. Alistair covers all things Big Tech, along with startups and venture capital. He writes analysis and columns about topics including AI, cloud computing, data centers, semiconductors, online search, e-commerce, EVs, robotics, and autonomous vehicles. Elon Musk SpaceX AI Insider More