Nvidia's Jensen Huang becomes Trump's new ally in Silicon Valley

Donald Trump has a new favorite in Silicon Valley, and it’s Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, who’s managed to climb straight to the top of Washington’s tech power ladder in Trump’s cabinet.

According to CNBC, Jensen has overtaken Elon Musk, Mark Zuck, and Tim Cook in both influence and access, using Nvidia’s global dominance in AI chips to get the president’s ear and change decisions that affect billions in trade.

Jensen’s rising political clout came into full view when Nvidia revealed during his recent visit to Beijing that it would soon restart sales of its previously banned H20 AI chips to China.

That announcement came just days after Jensen met Trump in Washington, D.C., where he continued pushing a message he’s been repeating all year: that restricting American chips gives Chinese companies the upper hand.

His meetings with Trump have become frequent. He even joined the president on a May trip to the United Arab Emirates, which ended with a massive chip deal sending hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs to the Gulf nation, a decision that also boxed out Huawei.

Jensen flips H20 export ban and pressures White House

The H20 chips were blocked earlier this year under U.S. trade rules targeting advanced tech exports to China. Jensen publicly lobbied against that decision. Dan Ives, a senior analyst at Wedbush, told CNBC, “It was a historic win for Nvidia and Jensen … and I think it shows the increasing political influence that Huang’s having within the Trump administration.”

Behind closed doors, Jensen pushed the same line to officials at the White House. Paul Triolo, head of China and tech policy at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group, said Huang’s arguments matched those of David Sacks, Trump’s lead adviser on AI and crypto.

“Sacks and Huang both argue that limiting exports of U.S. technology such as select and non-cutting-edge GPUs to China risks pushing Chinese companies to use domestic alternatives,” Triolo told CNBC. “At the end of the day, this argument likely carried the day on the H20 issue.”

Even if Nvidia doesn’t restart full production of the H20s, simply unloading its existing stockpile will be a win. The company took a $4.5 billion hit in May from unsold inventory. Selling those chips would recover lost revenue and keep Chinese customers from walking away. Jensen made the company’s position clear last week, saying, “Every civil AI model should run on the U.S. technology stack,” as he announced Nvidia’s plan to resume H20 sales.

Jensen’s ability to pull off a reversal of that scale while operating between Beijing and D.C. has stunned even veteran tech watchers. Dan said, “Huang has become a global figure and taken on a new role politically due to his success in the AI revolution.” He added that Nvidia’s central role in the AI market has “vaulted him ahead of Cook.”

Trump cools on Cook as Nvidia dominates AI space

During Trump’s first term, Tim Cook worked the system perfectly. Apple thrived in China, dodged tariffs, and Cook played diplomat-in-chief for the U.S. tech sector. But that playbook isn’t working anymore. After Trump got reelected, Cook’s influence took a hit, and it keeps slipping.

Despite Apple announcing a $500 billion U.S. investment back in February, Trump said in May that he had a “little problem with Tim Cook” over Apple moving production to India. That comment came as the U.S. and China ramped up fresh trade tensions.

Trump’s adviser Peter Navarro also slammed Cook, saying Apple wasn’t moving out of China fast enough. That criticism came while Apple was already trying to move more iPhone production to India to limit its China exposure.

Apple’s drop in political favor is happening at the same time as Nvidia’s rise. The market also flipped. Apple lost its title as the most valuable U.S. company, and Nvidia took it.

While Musk had once been expected to take the lead role with Trump, the relationship between him and the White House reportedly soured just two months ago. Commentators had initially said his connections in both Washington and China might help shape trade policy. But after a very public fallout, Musk was no longer in the picture. That left an opening, and Jensen took it.

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