On Friday afternoon, Ginsen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA chips, slipped to the White House to meet President Trump for the first time. There was no noise, and he left without a single public image taken from the two.
Two weeks ago, CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, ate a long lunch with Mr. Trump in his property in Mar-A-Lago in Florida. They eaten with a little bang and barely released the news.
None of his CEO joined Adult technology contemporaries who stood up Behind Mr. Trump in his inauguration. Instead, the two were in completely different continents: Mr. Nadila was traveling to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, while Mr. Huang concluded a visit to see suppliers and employees in Taiwan and China.
Perhaps the absence in the opening of the executives of the second companies in the world was the most visual signs that some companies were trying to follow a fewer approach when Mr. Trump returned to Washington, even when some of their peers took to comprehensive Tewd screens.
For companies like Microsoft and NVIDIA, which, unlike many of its peers, did not anger Mr. Trump, “It is almost as usual.” Nadila.
While Microsoft and Nvidia shares a quieter approach to Mr. Trump, the effects of their feet in Washington are the opposite of the polarity. Microsoft, on the threshold of the fiftieth anniversary of its founding and learning the battle to fight monopoly for more than two decades, is it It can be said that the most technology players in political issuesWith the strong pressure arm and executives who sponsored communications in both political parties.
Nafidia, on the other hand, is Rising in Washington. The profile has rapidly grew in the past few years, thanks to its overwhelming control over the specialized chips that other technology companies need to build large systems of artificial intelligence.
The risks of both companies are high. The new administration must be The finishing touches on the rules About the sale of NVIDIA chips and build Microsoft data centers abroad. Microsoft also He has a group of other concernsIncluding cybersecurity, the organization of artificial intelligence systems and electricity requirements for energy data centers. After a breakthrough by Deepseek, NVIDIA also has a risk to increasing its chips to China.
“Everyone must come to the table, and they will do this in different ways, because, as the proverb says, if you are not on the table, you are on the list,” said Kevin Madden, a big partner in Penta. Group, a global strategic company, and a former largest strategist in the 2012 MITT Romney presidential campaign.
Their quieter strategies were offered about the opening. Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, attended a reception for the cabinet members hosted by Vice President JD Vance. A week later, Mr. Smith and Mr. Nadila went to a black dinner hosted by Al -Barfim Club and attended by Cabinet candidates Howard Lootnick, Linda McMahon and Dog Burgum, former governor of North Dakota and Mr. Nadila an old teacher in Microsoft. The Vice President of NVIDIA Foreign Affairs, Nid Fenkel, and some NVIDIA policy employees also attended the opening ceremonies.
Like other technology companies, Microsoft donated a million dollars to Mr. Trump’s opening box, but they did so after their peers. He gave $ 500,000 to the opening fund for the Trump administration, as well as the opening of Biden in 2021. (NVIDIA did not donate to the opening box.)
When the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, had dinner on an expected trip to Mar Lago in mid -December, the Instagram posts documented by making gossip pages.
The person said that the leaders of Microsoft met the employees of Mr. Trump, cabinet and technology consultants before Mr. Nadila. When they reached Mar Lago, they knew the priorities and interests of Mr. Trump.
They talked about security and investment in infrastructure, and when Mr. Trump expressed his concern about nuclear energy safety – it Obtaining popularity as an electricity supplier for data centers Mr. Nadila, Mr. Smith and Eileon Musk, who joined lunch, tried to calm his concerns, according to a person who is aware of the conversation.
Mr. Huang excelled from Nvidia Mar-A-Laggo and waited for nearly two weeks of the opening to visit the administration.
By the time when he arrived in Washington this month, it became clear that the Trump administration could pose a threat to NVIDIA work. Mr. Lootnick, a wealthy donor to Mr. Trump who was chosen to lead the Trade Department, Tell Congress during the nomination session Days before he believed that American technology companies, including NVIDIA, “you need to stop helping” China.
He said: “If they would compete with us, let them compete, but they stop using our tools to compete with us.”
The comments broke the hopes of Nafidia that Mr. Trump may enter into a lighter organizational environment than his predecessor. Under President Joseph R. Biden Junior, The United States manufactured NVIDIA chips To China and AI sales were crowned For more than 100 other countries. Expansion and The enforcement of those rules It is located on the Trump administration.
During the meeting of Mr. Huang this afternoon with Mr. Trump, the beginning, Mr. Huang spoke about the policy of artificial intelligence and semi -conductors. But then, Mr. Trump told reporters He could not determine whether he would prohibit more Nafidia chips to China. He added that although “it was a good meeting”, the administration is still planned to put it Definitions on chips are made outsideWhich would cut NVIDIA profits because their chips are made in Taiwan.
Mr. Trump said of Mr. Huang: “He is a great man.” “It is the largest in the world in terms of chips.”
Mr. Venkel refused to discuss the meeting. In an interview with the New York Times, he said: “Things went well, but I can’t say much more.”
Facing the pressure of the White House, Nafidia was strengthening its presence in Washington. This week, the company, which opened its first office there last year, on board an executive director of the Republican government affairs, Stewart Barber, who previously worked as an advisor to Ivanka Trump, said that two people familiar with the NVIDIA office, who asked not to be identified by employees.
The company applied to become a member of the IT Industry Council, a policy group representing most of the leading technology companies. The American Global Strategies, a geopolitical consultant group led by Robert C. O’Brien, who held the position of National Security Adviser at the White House for two years during the reign of Mr. Trump.
The late NVIDIA expansion in Washington can also be attributed to a recognition that its new emergence demanded that it become more involved. A little more than a year, Nvidia’s The market value has amplified by $ 2 trillionThis makes it one of the three most valuable public companies in the world, with Microsoft and Apple.
“This really indicates their maturity and appreciation that their presence in Washington is issues,” said Dean Garfield, former Vice President of Policy at Netflix, who led the Information Technology Industry Council from 2009 to 2018. The steps they take. “
