It’s a tricky time to be a corporate chief executive, as tariffs, trade wars, and the red meat politics of the Trump presidency sow chaos across markets and supply chains. But no CEO may find it more difficult than Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, whose company announced a $4.5 billion hit to inventory on Wednesday as a result of a new U.S. policy on chip exports.
As Huang spoke to analysts and investors on the company’s earnings call, the CEO demonstrated an impressive feat of gymnastics, walking a fine line to critique the Trump policy that left a massive hole in his company’s income statement while being careful not to provoke the president.
Huang kicked off the call with sharp criticism of the Trump administration’s new export controls, which have forced Nvidia to stop selling its H20 chips in China. “The U.S. has based its policy on the assumption that China cannot make AI chips. That assumption was always questionable, and now it’s clearly wrong.” He added: “Export controls should strengthen U.S. platforms, not drive half of the world’s AI talent to rivals.”
Nvidia said the new rule will cause it to forfeit $10.5 billion in revenue in the first half of this year. But while his words were pointed, Huang was careful not to call out President Trump by name in his critique, referring only to U.S. policy.
When Trump’s name did cross Huang’s lips, it was to bestow praise on the POTUS. “President Trump has outlined a bold vision to reshore advanced manufacturing, create jobs, and strengthen national security,” he said later during the call, noting that he was “honored” to join him in U.S.–United Arab Emirates AI investment projects that include expanding to Nvidia chips. “President Trump wants U.S. tech to lead.”
Later in the call, Huang turned to another piece of government regulation: the so-called AI Diffusion Rule, passed in the last days of the Biden administration to restrict how advanced AI technology and equipment is shared with foreign countries.
The Trump administration revoked the rule in January, and in this case, Huang deemed it worthy of crediting the president by name. “It was really terrific to see that the AI Diffusion Rule was rescinded,” Huang said. “President Trump wants America to win. He also realizes that we’re not the only country in the race.”
The comments were all the more remarkable since they essentially praised Trump for doing exactly what Huang had moments earlier faulted Trump’s administration for not doing. “He wants the United States to win and recognizes that we have to get the American stack out to the world, and get the world to build on the American stack instead of alternatives,” Huang said.
The paradox did not seem to bother investors, who cheered Nvidia’s results and sent shares of the stock up roughly 5% in after-hours trading on Wednesday.