Nvidia hosts AI event in Washington, highlighting Trump administration's key role

Chipmaker remains a dominant force but faces greater competition and geopolitical challenges

Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia, speaks to the media before his keynote address at the Nvidia AI summit in Washington. Bloomberg

Nvidia investors on Tuesday were paying close attention to Washington, where the chipmaker is for the first time holding its artificial intelligence conference, highlighting the critical role of the Trump administration in determining the fate of AI companies.

Donald Trump had initially been set to meet Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang in Washington during the tech giant’s three-day conference, called GTC. But the US President is now on a trip of Asia and will instead meet Mr Huang on Wednesday, likely in South Korea.

During a pre-keynote presentation at the start of the GTC conference, Mr Huang struck a friendly tone towards Mr Trump.

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“He’s our President and we want him to be successful so America can win,” he said.

Mr Trump and Mr Huang have an amicable relationship and the Nvidia head has lobbied the President for exemptions on restrictions of Nvidia chip exports to China. Mr Huang also helped persuade Mr Trump to call off a planned “surge” of federal forces to San Francisco, giving the city more time to improve crime rates.

Nvidia stock was up more than 1 per cent at midday on Tuesday.

Mr Huang also announced that Nvidia would soon be partnering with the Department of Energy to build seven new supercomputers to bolster US science research.

“I have to give a shout-out to [Energy Secretary] Chris Wright,” Mr Huang said, adding that he was committed to maintaining US leadership in science research.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said he wants US President Donald Trump to be successful 'so America can win'. AFP

Inside a packed Walter E Washington Convention Centre in downtown Washington, Nvidia, which continues to ride the wave of AI investments with its powerful CPUs and GPUs, appeared to be enjoying its global dominance.

For years, Nvidia largely survived by providing gaming chips. Then the AI boom led to an explosion in demand for its tech.

Still, Nvidia's continued ascent is no longer a sure thing, with increasing pressure from semiconductor rivals such as AMD and Qualcomm, which on Monday said it would introduce new artificial intelligence accelerator chips.

Qualcomm had previously been on the sidelines during the AI boom, requiring specialised semiconductors.

Mohammed Soliman, director of the strategic technology programme at the Washington-based Middle East Institute think tank, said Qualcomm isn’t trying to challenge Nvidia head-on.

“It’s playing a different game by pushing AI closer to the user through edge-to-cloud systems,” Mr Soliman said, pointing out that if Qualcomm is successful, “it could change how AI scales globally”.

Regardless of whether Qualcomm achieves its goals, Mr Soliman said Nvidia remains the dominant force.

Shift to Washington

Nvidia’s decision to hold its much-anticipated conference in Washington signifies a methodical shift in the thinking of Silicon Valley's tech giants.

From the dawn of the personal computer era and well into the initial internet boom of the mid-1990s, West Coast tech firms largely turned a blind eye to Washington politics.

That mentality began to change in the late '90s when Microsoft was found guilty of monopolistic behaviour following litigation brought by the US Justice Department.

The guilty verdict didn’t result in Microsoft's break up, but many analysts felt the company lost valuable time and was unfocused as the industry began to pivot to a post-PC era and a boom in smartphones.

Fast forward to 2025, and most tech firms have large Washington offices for lobbying efforts.

The AI investment boom has also caused a jockeying for proximity to the White House, where Mr Trump has taken less of a regulatory approach to the burgeoning technology.

Mark MacCarthy, a senior fellow at the Institute for Technology Law and Policy at Georgetown University in Washington, reflected on the shift in mindset among many who lead technology companies.

“Tech has evolved in three stages in its relationship with DC policymakers,” Prof MacCarthy said.

“The first was to ignore it; the second was to say ‘leave me alone’; and the third way − the present situation − is the line of thinking ‘we’d love to help, here’s what you can do for us’,” he said, noting Big Tech’s push for less regulation and more influence.

Nvidia has been no stranger to flexing its muscle in recent years with the administrations of both Mr Trump and former president Joe Biden, but has been more successful in gaining influence through the Trump White House.

The company was not shy about railing against a stricter chip export strategy sought by the Biden administration, which wanted to blunt China’s attempt to use US technology in its AI programmes.

Nvidia, Microsoft and other firms claimed the strategy would backfire and ultimately harm the US lead in AI, although analysts often felt that Nvidia simply wished to keep revenue growing first and foremost, and was less concerned about US national security.

Jensen Huang's Nvidia has been more successful in gaining influence through the Trump White House. AFP

Regardless, Nvidia scored a victory in July, with the Trump White House allowing it to obtain licences to sell its H20 GPU to China.

In recent weeks, however, Nvidia has boasted about its efforts in the US, announcing a partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to manufacture its Blackwell chip wafer in the US.

Shortly after his appearance in Washington, Mr Huang is expected to travel to Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum, with hopes of gaining influence and bolstering Nvidia sales in various countries with AI aspirations.