Founder and boss of Nvidia, the American semiconductor company that makes the world's leading artificial-intelligence chips. Before co-founding Nvidia, Huang was a busboy at Denny's, a restaurant chain. He has run the company for more than 30 years. Huang has said that Nvidia "would not be possible without TSMC". He has also said that data centres for AI will require hundreds of thousands of electricians, plumbers and carpenters.
In late 2023 Huang began advocating that every country should have its own AI system—"sovereign AI"—a concept that has since been taken up by at least 20 countries and which represents a lucrative new revenue source for Nvidia.
During the trade war between America and China in 2025, Huang ping-ponged between Washington and Beijing, visiting China at least three times since January and meeting officials including Vice-Premier He Lifeng. He has been likened to a new Tim Cook—Apple's boss was long the premier corporate go-between with Beijing, but his influence has waned as China turned against the iPhone. In May 2025 he warned that America risks being left behind if its firms do not compete in China's growing AI ecosystem.
In September 2025 China banned its major tech companies from buying Nvidia's AI chips, spooked by White House suggestions that America wanted to make China dependent on American technology. Huang provoked a backlash after suggesting in an interview that the term "China hawk" was a "badge of shame". Steve Bannon said Huang should go to prison.
Huang, who once kept his distance from politics, has pivoted towards Trump, pledging to help reindustrialise America. In late 2025 he said Nvidia had $500bn-worth of orders to deliver that year and the next; Nvidia became the world's first $5trn company on October 29th 2025.
Every journalist has a novel in him, which is an excellent place for it.