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. Mr Huang has said Nvidia "would not be possible without TSMC", and 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, Mr Huang ping-ponged between Washington and Beijing, visiting China several times 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. Mr Huang warned that America risks being left behind if its firms do not compete in China's growing AI ecosystem.
China later 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. Mr Huang provoked a backlash after suggesting in an interview that the term "China hawk" was a "badge of shame". Steve Bannon said he should go to prison.
Once distant from politics, Mr Huang has pivoted towards Donald Trump, pledging to help reindustrialise America. In late 2025 he said Nvidia had $500bn-worth of orders to deliver over the next two years; Nvidia became the world's first $5trn company.
"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."