Washington: The roster of business leaders invited to join President Donald Trump on his trip to China this week left off one notable, and surprising, name: Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang.
While more than a dozen other top executives including Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook and Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk made the cut for the business delegation, according to a White House official, Huang was not among those invited. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that Huang — whose company makes the world’s most sought-after AI chips — would not be accompanying the president on the China trip.
The executives joining Trump are all from companies with significant existing China exposure and represent sectors expected to be part of the trip’s commercial agenda, according to another person familiar with the matter. All of the people, including the White House official, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential travel plans.
Huang’s absence stands out given his role as head of the world’s most valuable company and maker of semiconductors powering the artificial intelligence boom — not to mention his proximity to Trump since the president’s return to office. It represents a potential setback for Huang in his bid to sell Nvidia’s AI chips to China, a market he’s identified as a $50 billion opportunity.
