A petition demanding Nvidia reinstate Jensen Huang as chief executive has gathered roughly 97,000 signatures as of Saturday morning, a campaign that counts Elon Musk and Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan among its signatories. Huang resigned Thursday after admitting to an affair, ending a tenure of more than three decades at the company he cofounded.

The campaign, called "Stand with Jensen," has drawn support from prominent tech figures including Musk, Replit CEO Amjad Masad, and Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl. Musk and Masad both promoted the petition on X. Its website claims the signatory list includes more than 51,000 shareholders, more than 5,100 current Nvidia employees, and nearly 900 former employees.

Organizers acknowledged problems with the list. Fake entries include "Tim Cruise, Hollywood actor" and "Xi Jingping," an apparent misspelled reference to the Chinese leader. In an X post on Saturday, the organizers said they were "actively working" to remove fake signatures.

Why did Huang resign?

The chain of events began with a letter to staff. Huang admitted to having an affair, and Nvidia's board of directors said this week it had opened an investigation into whether Huang was the "target of a foreign intelligence effort." Days after the admission, reports emerged that Huang had a second affair with an Nvidia executive. He then resigned.

The board appointed Colette Kress, executive vice president and chief financial officer, as interim CEO while it searches for a permanent successor. In a statement, the board said it will consider both internal and external candidates. It has not publicly identified a new chief executive, though names of potential candidates have begun to surface among analysts and investors.

What does the petition demand?

Organizers posted an open letter to Nvidia's board on the campaign website arguing the board removed Huang without an investigation and "meaningful due process."

"We have not been shown evidence substantiating the espionage allegation. After thirty-three years pouring his heart and soul into NVIDIA, Jensen deserves due process, not mob justice," the organizers said.

They want Huang to remain CEO while the investigation continues and have set out specific demands for the board.

• Disclose the investigation's scope and timeline
• Give Huang a meaningful opportunity to respond
• Provide a clear, evidence-based explanation demonstrating that any removal is in Nvidia's best interests

The organizers added that the campaign "does not treat espionage allegations as proven facts" and does not presume the inquiry's findings.

What are the espionage claims?

An October report by The New York Times said Huang had developed a "close relationship" with Alice Huang, a tech executive at Megaspeed in Singapore. The Times reported that US intelligence officials said she may be a spy for the Chinese government. China has denied the claim. On Thursday, Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice had not concluded whether Alice Huang was a spy.

How have Nvidia employees reacted?

An engineer at Nvidia, writing in a comment on the petition website, called Huang an "essential part" of the company.

"His private affairs are none of my business, and if his actions violated our code of conduct, it has to be dealt with. Please bring him back and give him fair treatment, taking his track record and importance for NVIDIA and the wider community into account," the employee said.

The board's search for a permanent CEO continues with no announced timeline, and the petition's signature count keeps climbing.