Nvidia's interim CEO calls companywide meeting, says 'this is an extremely difficult time'

Colette Kress, the chief financial officer who took over as Nvidia's interim CEO following Jensen Huang's departure, reached out to employees with a message aimed at steadying the organization.

In a companywide email sent Thursday (local time), Kress acknowledged that "this is an extremely difficult time" and said she wanted staff to know "how much we appreciate the resilience, professionalism and unwavering dedication you have shown," CNN reported.

She went on to encourage employees, saying the company's performance had been possible "because of the work each of you does every day" and that "you are our greatest strength."

Kress also signaled that further steps — including the selection of a permanent CEO and broader leadership decisions — were forthcoming, saying staff would "hear more from leadership about our shared future in the coming days."

She announced that a companywide meeting would be held at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday.

That date falls the day after Nvidia's scheduled fiscal third-quarter (August–October) earnings release on Tuesday, suggesting the company intends to first address the immediate matter of the earnings announcement before gathering employees to discuss its path forward and restore normal operations as quickly as possible.

Kress closed her message with a call to action: "We play a pivotal role in building the technology driving the AI revolution, and there are important challenges ahead of us. Let us move forward with the same resolve and dedication that has always defined this company."

The message came roughly an hour after the board appointed Kress as interim CEO.

Kress joined Nvidia in 2013 after holding finance roles at Cisco and Microsoft. A veteran finance executive, she is credited with playing a central role alongside former CEO Huang in building Nvidia into a world-leading AI chipmaker.