Nvidia's CEO drums up Musk’s Optimus robot as the next trillion-dollar industry

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang believes Elon Musk’s humanoid robot, Optimus, is on the cusp of reshaping the global economy. He even called it “likely the next multi-trillion dollar industry.”

In an interview with Bloomberg, Huang praised Musk as an “extraordinary engineer” whose projects, from Tesla’s self-driving cars to xAI’s Grok chatbot, are not only cutting-edge but set to redefine entire sectors.

This comes in when the chipmaker giant reported earnings that outperformed Wall Street expectations. However, China’s export bans have thrown a shadow over its future sales. Nvidia reported $44.06 billion in revenue, beating the $43.31 billion expected. Its earnings per share hit $0.96 adjusted, ahead of the $0.93 forecast.

Its booming data center business saw a staggering 73% year-over-year (YoY) growth, sending the stock up about 6% in after-hours trading.

Tesla and Nvidia to build big together

Jensen Huang stated, “We do a lot of business with Tesla and xAI” and “Optimus is the first robot that has a chance to achieve the high volume and technology scale to advance technology. We’re going to build many more computers together.”

His bullish view on the robotics space aligns with Nvidia’s surging position at the heart of the global AI boom. The company recently faced an $8 billion revenue hit due to tightened US export controls on its chips in China. Huang pointed out that the explosion of demand for generative and reasoning AI, which includes platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok, is more than making up for it. 

“The demand is just off the charts,” Huang said in the interview, adding that Nvidia’s next-generation Blackwell chips are landing at “perfect timing” to meet the surge.

On China, Huang struck a careful tone, noting that despite geopolitical tensions and the rise of domestic players like Huawei, China remains the second-largest AI market and is home to the world’s biggest pool of AI researchers. 

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in new interview on @Tesla:

"We do a lot of business with Tesla and xAI. Elon is an extraordinary engineer. We're going to build many more computers together. His self-driving car, his Optimus robot, every single one of them world class and… pic.twitter.com/aJofZe638O

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 29, 2025

“It’s prudent for Chinese customers to develop their stack on Huawei,” he admitted, “but to write off American technology companies is not smart. If able to compete, American companies will win.”

Nvidia shares surge 6% pre-market

Huang also touched on US policy and expressed strong support for President Trump’s push for tariffs and reshoring manufacturing, describing it as a “transformative idea” and backing efforts to accelerate US AI leadership worldwide.

As for Europe, Huang teased an upcoming multi-country trip, where Nvidia will meet heads of state across France, the UK, Germany, and Belgium. The goal seems to be to help countries set up their own national AI infrastructure and accelerate the development of AI factories.

On the earnings call, CEO Jensen Huang stated that the $50 billion Chinese AI chip market is now “effectively closed to US industry” and admitted the H20 export ban has effectively ended Nvidia’s Hopper data center business in China.

NVIDIA share price jumped by over 6% in the pre-market session and could hit $143.23 when the trading session opens. It closed trading at an average price of $134.81 on Wednesday, while it has surged by over 23% in the past month.

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