It took a CIA intervention to bring Bowen Yang back to Saturday Night Live. The former cast member made a surprise return to Studio 8H Saturday night, playing disgraced Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in the show’s cold open.
The sketch took place at CIA headquarters, where host John Mulaney played an intelligence official who had summoned five of America’s most powerful tech executives for a meeting about national security.
Among those assembled were Elon Musk (Jeremy Culhane), Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg (Andrew Dismukes), OpenAI’s Sam Altman (Ben Marshall), Anthropic’s Dario Amodei (Jane Wickline), and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel (James Austin Johnson).
“America needs you to learn the difference between a woman who will actually want to have sex with you and a woman who is clearly a spy,” Mulaney told the group, referencing Huang’s resignation earlier in the week following revelations of an affair with a woman suspected of spying for China.
Asked what lesson they should take from Huang’s downfall, the executives offered a series of less-than-promising answers, including “Never date a Chinese woman,” “Never date a human woman,” and, from Thiel, “Never date anyone, lest they become the Antichrist.”
“Peter, you’ve got to chill on the Antichrist stuff,” Mulaney replied.
The CIA official attempted to explain the concept of romantic espionage using Venn diagrams, while repeatedly struggling to keep Musk focused. At one point, Mulaney resorted to spraying Culhane’s Musk with a water bottle.
Finally, Mulaney introduced someone who had learned the lesson the hard way: Jensen Huang himself, played by a returning Yang, who entered to cheers from the studio audience.
“It’s me, Jensen ‘Hide Yo Wife’ Huang,” Yang announced. “Ladies, when you invite Jensen over, you know what’s about to go down. The S&P 500!”
“That’s right, I’m into BDSM—breakin’ da stock market,” he continued, before offering the other executives some advice: “Fellas, don’t be like me. Remember, women don’t like guys like us. That’s how we became guys like us.”
Yang’s appearance came just two days after Huang’s resignation as CEO of the AI chipmaking giant he co-founded more than three decades ago was announced. The resignation followed revelations that Huang had engaged in multiple extramarital affairs, including one with a Chinese businesswoman whom U.S. intelligence officials suspect of spying for Beijing.
The scandal has also reached the White House, raising questions about what President Trump knew and when he knew it. Trump has denied knowing about the alleged espionage connection when he invited Huang to accompany him on a trip to China last May, but The New York Times reported that the president had been warned about the relationship at least twice—including in a briefing by Secretary of State Marco Rubio aboard Air Force One shortly before Huang joined the trip.
For Yang, Saturday’s appearance marked a return to the show he unexpectedly departed midway through its 51st season. The comedian and actor joined SNL as a writer in 2018 before becoming a cast member the following year, earning five Emmy nominations during his tenure.
His December 20, 2025, farewell came during an episode hosted by his Wicked co-star Ariana Grande, with musical guest Cher. In his final sketch, Yang played a retiring Delta Sky Club employee who was serenaded by Grande and Cher, bringing him to tears.
Watch tonight’s full cold open at the top of this post.
