Freed Nvidia engineer Avinatan Or meets Jensen Huang at U.S. headquarters
First meeting since Or’s release from Gaza brings emotional moment for company’s leadership and Israeli team.
Avinatan Or and his partner, Noa Argamani, met on Thursday for the first time with Nvidia CEO and founder Jensen Huang, at the company’s U.S. headquarters. The meeting was organized by Amit Krig, Senior Vice President for Networking Software and head of Nvidia Israel. It was also attended by members of Nvidia’s Israeli management team, who are currently at the company’s headquarters for professional meetings.
“I am profoundly moved and deeply grateful to share that, just moments ago, our colleague, Avinatan Or, was released to the Red Cross in Gaza,” Huang wrote to employees following his release in October. “After two unimaginable years in Hamas captivity, Avinatan has come home.”
The release of Or, a 32-year-old electrical engineer at Nvidia’s Tel Aviv research center, marked one of the most emotional moments for the company since the October 7 attacks. Or was kidnapped from the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Reim along with his partner, Noa Argamani, who was freed in a military rescue operation in June. His freedom came 738 days after he was taken hostage and as part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.
In his letter to Nvidia’s global staff, Huang paid tribute to Or’s mother, Ditza, praising her “strength, courage, and unwavering hope,” which he said “have inspired us all.” He noted that Nvidia employees in Israel “stood with her in vigil, united in determination that Avinatan would return home safely. That unity reflected the very best of who we are.”
Or joined Nvidia in 2022 after earning a degree in electrical engineering from Ben-Gurion University. He worked as a DFT engineer in Nvidia’s VLSI group, part of the company’s networking division, a core element of its semiconductor design operations in Israel.
For Nvidia, Or’s release brings closure to a long period of collective anxiety and mourning. “Thousands of NVIDIA employees have served with extraordinary bravery in defense of their communities during the war,” Huang wrote. “Many have faced immense pain, loss, and uncertainty. Some have lost family members or loved ones.”
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Avinatan Or and Noa Argamani during their visit to Nvidia headquarters.
(Photo: Nvidia)
The letter concluded with words that captured both personal relief and corporate solidarity: “Avinatan — welcome home. Your safe return brings profound relief and joy to the entire NVIDIA family. May this moment mark the first step toward recovery, renewal, and lasting peace — for all who have been touched by this war.”
In December 2023, Nvidia and thousands of its employees raised $15 million to aid civilians in Israel and Gaza affected by the war, the largest humanitarian fundraising effort in the company’s 30-year history. The effort combined $5 million in employee donations with $10 million in matching contributions from Nvidia.
