Nvidia’s Jensen Huang hasn’t received his Mar-a-Lago invite yet – Is AI a Trump priority?

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed he has not yet met with President-elect Donald Trump following his November election victory. Speaking with Bloomberg’s Ed Ludlow on Tuesday, Huang responded to a query about whether he had been invited to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

“Not yet, but I would be delighted to go see him, congratulate him, and do everything we can to help this administration succeed,” Huang said.

Huang’s comments come amidst rising trade tensions as Trump prepares to take office. The president-elect has proposed imposing a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, following earlier suggestions of tariffs exceeding 60% on Chinese goods.

During Nvidia’s November earnings call, Huang addressed potential regulatory challenges, stating the company would “comply with any regulation that comes along fully.” 

China remains a major market for Nvidia, accounting for nearly 17% of its revenue in the fiscal year ending January 2024.

Trump’s stance on AI is ‘positive’

President-elect Trump has expressed varying opinions on artificial intelligence (AI), calling it both a “superpower” and “alarming” during a June interview on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast. He views AI through a competitive lens, particularly in the context of U.S.-China relations, labeling China the “primary threat” in the race for advanced AI systems.

Several prominent tech billionaires, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, have already visited Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump. 

The president-elect has enjoyed strong support from business leaders, with his campaign reportedly raising $200 million in donations post-election, according to The New York Times.

AI industry leaders are divided on the timeline for achieving superintelligence—machines surpassing human cognitive abilities. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a prominent Trump backer, predicts AI could surpass human intelligence by 2026. 

Differing views on AI regulation could lead to fallout with Musk

The debate over AI governance has exposed divisions within Trump’s coalition. Supporters like venture capitalist J.D. Vance advocate for minimal regulation, arguing that fears about AI risks are exaggerated and could stifle innovation. 

Similarly, tech mogul Peter Thiel has warned against regulatory overreach, stating that centralized AI governance could lead to “global totalitarian” control.

Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, has also supported Trump, contributing millions to his campaign and related political efforts while opposing restrictions on AI development.

Elon Musk, both a key ally to Trump and a long-time advocate for AI safety, has been at the forefront of AI topics since ChatGPT’s early days. Musk estimates a 10% to 20% chance of AI “going bad” and has supported measures like the California AI safety bill, which aimed to establish guardrails for developers.

Hendrycks, a safety advisor at Musk’s xAI company and co-sponsor of the now-vetoed bill, commented on Musk’s influence: “If Elon is making suggestions on AI stuff, then I expect it to go well.” 

Matt Calkins, CEO of Appian, highlighted the potential benefits of the president-elect’s close relationship with Elon Musk, citing Musk’s extensive experience in the AI sector. Speaking to CNBC, Calkins noted Musk’s background as a co-founder of OpenAI and CEO of his own AI lab, xAI, as promising assets for U.S. leadership in the field.

“We’ve finally got one person in the U.S. administration who truly knows about AI and has an opinion about it,” Calkins said in an interview last month.

If DJT takes a step back from formulating feasible AI policies, he might fallout with Tesla’s CEO, who has been fighting to improve his model GrokAI to be more competitive with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

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