Jensen Huang, the soft-spoken co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, once spent his days designing graphics chips for video game consoles. Today, he’s arguably the most powerful man in the artificial intelligence revolution—and a key player in global geopolitics. Huang’s rise from engineer to tech titan is not only a story of Silicon Valley success but also one that now intersects with Washington, Beijing, and the broader race to dominate the next era of computing, the New York Times reported.
From video games to the frontlines of AI
Born in Taiwan and raised in the US, Jensen Huang founded Nvidia in 1993 with a vision to create powerful graphics processing units (GPUs). Those chips, originally meant for rendering video game visuals, turned out to be the perfect tool for training the large-scale artificial intelligence models that power today’s chatbots, image generators, and autonomous systems. Now 62, Huang leads a company that controls more than 90% of the global market for AI chips—and one that recently became the first public firm in history to top $4 trillion in market value.
The reluctant lobbyist becomes a Washington insider
Despite his engineering roots, Huang has emerged as one of the most politically active executives in tech. His shift to Washington operator came out of necessity. After the Trump administration blocked sales of Nvidia’s last AI chip designed for China, Huang quickly jumped into the policy fray. He flew to D.C., met with President Trump, spoke at tech conferences, testified before Congress, and cultivated allies inside the White House—all to argue that US chip sales abroad should be expanded, not restricted.
A shrewd negotiator in Trump’s America First era
Huang’s charm offensive worked. After a private Oval Office meeting with Trump—backed by White House AI czar David Sacks—Nvidia secured a reversal that allowed it to resume selling certain chips to China. That victory capped months of effort in which Huang blended diplomacy, tech advocacy, and market logic to persuade the administration that cutting off China would only strengthen Chinese competitors like Huawei. “The American tech stack should be the global standard,” he said in Washington last week, echoing the message he brought directly to the president.
A globe-trotting salesman with geopolitical stakes
Huang hasn’t limited his lobbying to the US In recent months, he has crisscrossed the globe, joining Trump in the Middle East to finalize a blockbuster deal delivering Nvidia’s most advanced chips to data centres in the UAE. Days later, he was in Beijing, smiling for photos and telling Chinese customers that Nvidia was “open for business.” His sales pitch is consistent: better to spread US tech across the world than risk countries turning to Chinese alternatives.
A legacy of both innovation and influence
For years, Huang was known as the visionary behind the GPU revolution. Now he’s also a central figure in the geopolitical contest over AI His deep belief that selling American chips—no matter where—is key to maintaining US leadership in the field has earned him both admiration and criticism. But there’s little doubt that Huang has become the most influential tech CEO operating at the crossroads of innovation, diplomacy, and national security.
As tensions between the US and China continue to shape the future of technology, Jensen Huang isn’t just making the chips that power AI—he’s helping shape the rules of the game.
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