Until recently, US President Donald Trump knew nothing about NVIDIA — a technology company with the highest market capitalization in the world. He even initially wanted to divide her when he learned about NVIDIA’s dominant role in the AI chip market. But he later changed his mind after meeting CEO Jensen Huang.
Trump spoke about his intentions during his speech on his new AI Action Plan. He recounted a conversation between him and an advisor who told him that it would be «very difficult to dismantle NVIDIA».
«Even before I knew the truth of life, I said, «We’re going to break it,» Trump said.
After an advisor remarked that it would be «very difficult», he decided to find out at least some details about NVIDIA.
I asked: «Why?» I asked: «What percentage of the market does it have?»
«Sir, he has 100%», — they said.
«Who the hell is he? What’s his name?»
«His name is Jensen Huang, NVIDIA».
I said: «What’s NVIDIA? I’ve never heard of it before».
He said: «You don’t want to know about it, sir».
Donald Trump admits he abandoned the separation plan NVIDIAbecause it would be counterproductive. Initially, he thought that he could try to split the company to create competition. But the advisor explained that even if NVIDIA started to perform poorly, competitors would not be able to catch up for at least 10 years. After that, Trump abandoned the idea of antitrust intervention and moved on to other issues.
Later, Trump personally met Jensen Huang and realized why he had such a strong position in the market.
Huang was able to use this acquaintance to NVIDIA’s advantage. He persuaded the Trump administration to allow the company to supply its H20 chips to China, although the US had previously restricted these exports due to national security risks. To ease the tension, Commerce Secretary Howard Latnick emphasized that these chips — are only «the fourth strongest» level of ideal AI solutions, the idea of which is to «get Chinese developers hooked on American technology».
Regardless of the impact on US foreign policy, the move was a win for NVIDIA. Even before this deal, the company had already reached a capitalization of $4 trillion.
Under the Biden administration, the US Department of Justice was allegedly preparing an antitrust investigation against NVIDIA, but judging by Trump’s new rhetoric, we can’t expect any lawsuits in the near future. Jensen Huang’s rhetoric has also changed. He used to criticize the Trump administration’s export control policy when it first came to power. But recently, Huang has been is no longer concerned about the possible negative impact of this policy on the industry.
Source: The Verge
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