Before the world knew his name, Jensen Huang had already become one of the most influential figures in artificial intelligence (AI) development.
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Huang → know → development
He had also cultivated a close relationship with United States President Donald Trump, which was evident when he took a call from him during a live AI summit in Los Angeles last week.
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he → cultivate → Angeles
Last year, Huang revealed to media that Trump often called him late at night.
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Trump → reveal → night
Huang, the founder of Nvidia, the tech giant that dominates the world's AI chip market, had just criticised several prominent AI figures for their "doomsday" predictions.
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that → dominate → predictions
When Trump called, he told Huang over speakerphone that he endorsed his stance and dismissed AI safety warnings as "a hoax".
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he → call → hoax
We're going to lead," Trump said.
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Trump → go → ?
Analysts say the exchange reflects a carefully forged relationship.
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exchange → say → relationship
"Huang has been extremely savvy in cultivating a close personal relationship with Trump," said Samuel Hammond, director of Artificial Intelligence Policy and chief economist at the Foundation for American Innovation.
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Hammond → cultivate → Innovation
"Trump, for his part, respects power and business success.
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Trump → respect → power
Trump likes 'winners'."
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Trump → like → winners
AI experts and observers the ABC has spoken to agree the alignment between the US president and the head of the country's largest AI company will have a far-reaching impact on how this cutting-edge technology is developed.
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technology → speak → impact
Huang has urged Washington to lift restrictions on sales of advanced AI chips to China, arguing that keeping Nvidia out only accelerates Beijing's shift toward homegrown chips.
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keeping → urge → chips
He contends that American firms should compete aggressively in global markets and accelerate development to preserve their edge over China, rather than being slowed by stricter safety regulation.
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firms → contend → regulation
Nvidia's ambitions loomed over Thursday's White House state dinner, hosted for the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and attended by a long list of tech titans.
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ambitions → loom → titans
Earlier this year, Huang also joined Trump's delegation to China, following a last-minute phone call from the US president after he noticed Huang had not been invited.
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Huang → join → president
From dishwasher to AI titan
Nvidia is now valued at around $US5.4 trillion ($7.7 trillion), making it the world's most valuable company as demand for AI hardware and data centres has skyrocketed.
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demand → value → hardware
Born in Taiwan and raised in Thailand, he described a strict upbringing by his Taiwanese parents, to whom "nothing is ever good enough" and whose criticism was relentless.
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criticism → bear → whom
But he said it was this highly "torturous" education that helped build his resilience in the face of sharp criticism.
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that → say → criticism
It also shaped his leadership style at Nvidia, where he said he scrutinised everyone's work to "help them be better".
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them → shape → work
At the age of 10, he migrated to the US to attend boarding school, without his parents.
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he → migrate → parents
Five years later, in the 1970s, Huang took his first job washing dishes at a US fast-food chain, Denny's.
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Huang → take → chain
He studied engineering while working part-time there, and by his own account, "worked hard", to be promoted to busboy, then waiter.
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He → study → busboy
He remains so proud of that chapter that he kept it on his LinkedIn profile.
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he → remain → profile
In a recent interview with CAN Media Agency, Huang revealed that he still worked seven days a week.
"Because I don't want to fail, I don't want Nvidia to fail,"he said.
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Nvidia → reveal → Agency
His biographer, Stephen Witt, described him as "a propulsive, mercurial, brilliant, and extraordinarily dedicated man".
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biographer → describe → man
Witt noted in his book, The Thinking Machine, that for Huang, AI was "a pure force for progress".
"He doesn't permit much disagreement on this topic, and his force of personality can be intimidating."
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force → note → personality
Huang characterised AI as the next industrial revolution and argued that whichever country had its technology adopted most widely around the world would win the AI race.
"
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technology → characterise → race
The advance of human society is not a zero-sum game," Huang told the BBC in September last year.
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Huang → tell → September
He wants America to win, and President Xi wants China to win,
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China → want → ?
and it's possible for both of them to."
Independent AI researcher Andy Masley told the ABC he agreed with Huang "in some important ways but not others".
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he → tell → ways
"Both countries can benefit from AI, through medical and scientific research and useful commercial applications.
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countries → benefit → research
"However, I think both countries also have a strong interest in avoiding AI-related risk.
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countries → think → risk
"Huang strikes me as an outlier among people in the field for strongly implying that the odds of really massive civilisation-level risks from AI are basically zero.
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odds → strike → AI
Most of the leaders of the major AI labs disagree, as do many AI researchers."
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researchers → disagree → labs
Hammond, from the Foundation for American Innovation, said Nvidia had a dominant, near-monopoly market share in advanced AI chips outside China, and China was the only market capable of developing an indigenous competitor in the medium-to-long-run.
"Their interest in China is really about defending their long-term position in a growth market," he said.
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he → say → market
That is despite deep concerns expressed by US congressmen, including some Republicans, that the cutting-edge AI technology could power Beijing's surveillance, censorship and military applications.
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technology → express → applications
Hammond said he had "serious concerns" about Huang's advocacy to sell his AI chips to China, which he argued would "undermine America's fragile lead in AI by subverting export restrictions".
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he → say → restrictions
Masley told the ABC that wider access to Nvidia's most advanced chips would enable Chinese firms to build more capable AI, intensifying competitive pressure on American laboratories.
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access → tell → laboratories
Currently, the most powerful Nvidia chips are banned from export to China due to measures imposed by Washington.
But last year, Trump approved Nvidia to sell its previous-generation H200 AI chips to approved customers in China, with a 25 per cent tariff.
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Trump → ban → tariff
Bargaining chip
Masley said Trump wanted trade concessions from China, conspicuous diplomatic wins and the preservation of America's technological and national security advantages.
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Trump → bargain → advantages
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
