What happened
Stephen Witt, author of The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, And The World's Most Coveted Microchip, told NPR that Huang is now "the president's most influential adviser on technology issues" and that Trump's recent claims calling AI risk a "hoax" are "exactly Jensen's talking points."
Why it matters
Witt's assessment suggests the president's public position on AI risk may be shaped by the Nvidia CEO's views, which could influence how Washington handles AI safety discussions, according to Witt.
What to watch
Whether China approves ByteDance's planned order of 1 million RTX Pro 5500 chips, which sources told The Information would secure two quarters of projected Nvidia sales. Watch for Nvidia's first shipments reportedly planned for this December.
WHO IT HITSThis lands hardest on US AI safety nonprofits and national security analysts who have been urging the White House to take AI risk seriously; if Huang's views continue to shape policy, their warnings may carry less weight in Washington.
Summaries like this, in your inbox every morning.
The relationship between Trump and Huang did not start out warm. When Trump first took office, he asked "What the hell is Nvidia?" and initially tightened export controls, most notably by banning H200 chip exports to China. He even considered breaking Nvidia up. That changed after a dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump said he "learned the facts of life" and came to see Nvidia as an "amazing" AI leader. He then lifted the H200 export controls, ignoring warnings from lawmakers and national security experts.
Since then, the two have appeared together repeatedly and talk regularly by phone. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed ahead of Trump's talks with Xi that "the president is completely aligned with Jensen Huang." Meanwhile, China is weighing whether to let Alibaba and ByteDance import Nvidia's RTX Pro 5500 chips, with ByteDance planning to order 1 million chips—an order that would secure two quarters of Nvidia's projected sales.
Witt argues that the dynamic between the two camps—those who see AI risk as low and those who see it as high—hasn't shifted in a decade. If Huang's influence continues, the president is likely to keep downplaying warnings from AI firms, making it harder to advance serious US-China talks on AI safety. Whether that changes may depend on whether the administration faces pressure from lawmakers or national security experts to reconsider its approach.
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