analyst

The economy was cited for the number of technology-related employment cuts in the report released by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Technology job cuts fell to their lowest level of the year in October, with the sector announcing just 5,576 layoffs.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, leader of one of the world’s hottest chipmakers, is under immense scrutiny after he admitted to an extramarital affair, and the company’s board said it plans to investigate him in light of recent reporting that he was the target of a foreign intelligence effort.

The stunning admission follows a series of reports that Nvidia’s leader was targeted by former Megaspeed International executive Alice Huang, who the U.S. government suspects was recruited by a Chinese spy agency. The CEO previously denied having anything but a “normal” relationship with the woman.

Analysts say this will prompt calls for closer examination of tech companies’ dealings with China.

“This is a black eye moment for Jensen and will spark multiple congressional inquiries at a minimum and will create an overhang on the stock for a myriad of reasons,” said Daniel Ives, partner and senior managing director at merchant bank Yorkville Ives & Co. in an equity research note. “This will also increase major scrutiny regarding selling chips to China, which remains a key battleground issue in DC,” wrote Ives, who has an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Nvidia’s board said in a statement on Sunday that it has confidence in Huang and his leadership team. On Sunday in after-hours trading, Nvidia’s stock was $188.70 a share, up about 1%.

“While the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, the Board’s inquiry will examine all available information,” Nvidia’s board said.

In a staff memo, Huang apologized to his family and Nvidia employees.

“I was unfaithful to my wife,” Huang wrote. “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”

Huang wrote that he is committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting America’s national security, adding that he is “proud and grateful to be an American” and supports the investigation.

The transgression blemishes Huang’s leadership, which has been admired by many people in Silicon Valley. Huang, a former microprocessor designer and Denny’s dishwasher, discussed the idea behind Nvidia inside a Denny’s in San Jose with fellow entrepreneurs Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem. They co-founded the Santa Clara-based chipmaker in 1993.

Since then, Huang’s profile has risen to the status of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, with thousands of people gathering to hear his keynotes.

The company’s valuation has risen dramatically in recent years alongside AI’s boom. The company reached a record market capitalization of nearly $5.8 trillion in October. That has slipped below $5 trillion, however, weighed down by concern about the sustainability of AI infrastructure build-out.

“It certainly is going to put a cloud over Jensen and Nvidia for a while,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at advisory services firm Enderle Group, adding that Nvidia sells products to the U.S. Department of Defense. “If it turns out that he was intimate with the Chinese spy, Nvidia could face some pullback from the U.S. government.”

The company has no public succession plan, and Huang has no obvious heir apparent. He has repeatedly said he wants to continue in his role for decades and has created an informal organizational structure around him that eschews a conventional hierarchy. Instead, his direct reports are tasked with rapidly implementing his decisions.

Huang has said that this system gives his company the flexibility to react to rapid changes in technology and remain agile. But it has also created a situation where there’s no replacement ready to step in and take over Huang’s relentless schedule.

Concerns that sensitive information might leak through Nvidia’s contacts with China have fueled calls for investigations and greater scrutiny of Huang and the company, ratcheting pressure in what has already been a difficult geopolitical balancing act.

“The big issue is China is all out in everything they can do to try to compromise U.S. security, whether it’s running a honeypot scheme or whether it’s blackmailing or extorting existing employees across U.S. firms,” said Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research. “The issue here is if the extortion resulted in Nvidia making policies or the CEO making policies that would compromise national security. That’s what’s at stake.”

Legislators, including Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), said Congress will look into these relationships.

“The more I learn about the insane relationship between the Trump Administration, Chinese spies, and AI billionaires, the more I’m convinced there is nothing this administration does that isn’t corrupt,” Coons wrote on X on Saturday. “Congress will investigate and get answers.”

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on Coons’ statement or Nvidia’s board investigation.

While Nvidia is allowed to ship a limited range of products to China under a licensing program granted by the current Trump administration, Beijing has restricted imports of the chips — an impasse that continues to curb the chipmaker’s sales in the world’s second-largest economy.

Megaspeed, based in Singapore, has been accused of breaking U.S. export restrictions and smuggling Nvidia chips to China. Huang had told Bloomberg that his contacts with Megaspeed employees were typical of business relationships he has with many Chinese customers and executives.

Bloomberg contributed to this report.

JJ Watt got the job.

After six weeks of filling in as lead NFL game analyst for CBS Sports, Watt has reached a multi-year agreement to continue alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz in the network’s top broadcast booth. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The move assures that Watt will call his first Super Bowl on Feb. 13, 2028, in Atlanta. In a video posted Wednesday on his X account, Watt said it is “humbling” to be in such a position.

“It is a true honor and a privilege, and I do not take that responsibility lightly at all,” Watt said. “I appreciate their trust in me, and I have an absolute blast doing it every single week. And I cannot wait to continue to do it.”

The former three-time defensive player of the year wasn’t so sure the news would be that good Monday morning when he saw he had missed a call from parent company Skydance global sports group chairman David Berson.

“I’m thinking to myself, ‘Oh man, missed call from the boss. Am I in trouble for potentially breaking Jim Nance’s hand on the broadcast on Sunday with our with our ball drill?’” Watt joked. “It turns out that it was significantly better news than being called into the principal’s office.”

After a 12-season NFL career (10 with the Houston Texans, two with the Arizona Cardinals) that included five Pro Bowl selections, Watt joined CBS Sports as a studio analyst in 2023, then moved to the broadcast booth to call games with play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle last season.

Watt got bumped up to the top booth this season after Tony Romo, who had been the network’s lead game analyst since 2017, was placed on indefinite leave following his July arrest on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Earlier this month, CBS announced it had “mutually agreed to part ways” with Romo.

“I’ve had a front-row seat to JJ’s growth as a top-tier broadcaster, watching him tackle this role just like he did his hall-of-fame playing career,” Berson said in a statement. “He’s insightful, entertaining, passionate, meticulous in his preparation, and the ultimate teammate. He has a unique ability to see things and communicate to fans of all levels. We are thrilled to have him leading our NFL coverage.”

The bond market (US10Y), (US30Y), (US2Y) has taken control of the current market narrative, creating ripple effects across non-investment-grade technology companies and neo-cloud providers, according to Tyler Radke, Citi’s co-head of U.S. software research.

In an interview with CNBC, Radke pointed

Management upheaval at Netflix continued Monday as the streamer’s head of films Dan Lin exited, according to two people familiar with the matter who declined to be named.

Lin was appointed to the position in February 2024 and was tasked with making fewer, better and bigger movies. During his tenure, Netflix rolled out movies including crime thriller “The Rip,” starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and animated hit “KPop Demon Hunters.” His exit arrives as Netflix is going to release highly anticipated movies in theaters in the coming months including David Fincher-directed “The Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” starring Brad Pitt in November and Greta Gerwig-directed “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew next year.

Netflix did not have an immediate response to a request for comment.

Lin’s exit followed massive layoffs at Netflix that began last week, trimming 6% of staff or roughly 1,000 people. Netflix last Thursday announced the company’s Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria was no longer at the streamer and named her replacement, Peter Rice, a former chairman of Walt Disney Television and chairman of general entertainment for The Walt Disney Co.

After Bajaria was pushed out, many people in the industry expected Lin would be next, according to sources who declined to be named.

Rice will also oversee the film team until a new film head is announced.

Analysts and investors have raised concerns about Netflix’s growth. In the first half of 2026, hours watched on Netflix increased 2% compared to a year earlier, according to the streamer. Investors had hoped for more robust growth, given that the streamer increased its content budget 11% to $20 billion.

Netflix is profitable and continues to grow its revenue. But analysts say the streamer hasn’t had enough big hits recently and are skeptical about Netflix‘s ability to increase prices and grow its subscriber base if it doesn’t have enough popular content.

Netflix stock has dropped 42% compared to a year ago. By mid-morning on Monday, shares were trading at $69.53, down 1%.

In a note to staff about Bajaria’s exit, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos wrote that he saw an opportunity to take the streamer’s slate to the “next level” especially in the United States and Canada market, “where we have an outsize impact in creating big, buzzy hits that our members love and drive conversation around the world.”

Lin’s role was controversial in Hollywood, as he was named to the role after former Netflix film chief Scott Stuber left. Under Stuber’s leadership, Netflix ramped up its movie production and produced big budget films including 2022‘s “The Gray Man” starring Ryan Gosling but is not ranked in Netflix’s top 10 films of all time. “The Gray Man” cost nearly $200 million to make and at the time was Netflix’s most expensive movie, according to the New York Times.

Lin’s directive to be more budget conscious also irked some people in the industry.

While films released during his tenure including the animated film “Swapped,” as well as action films “Carry-On” and “Back in Action” made Netflix’s top 10 most-watched films list, based on views at the time of their debut, some of his other films were not as successful, analysts said.

Brandon Katz, director of insights and content strategy at Greenlight Analytics, said Netflix’s five most-watched English-language scripted summer movie releases in their first eight weeks posted the lowest average hours watched compared with the streamer’s top five summer releases in 2025, 2024 and 2023, citing Nielsen data.

Analysts and investors are eagerly anticipating Netflix’s third quarter earnings results Tuesday, as executives are expected to address how they plan to move the company forward.

This is a developing story.