Trump floats and folds plan to break up Nvidia, admits it is not easy
According to Trump, advisers briefed him on the challenges such a move would entail, noting that Nvidia’s technological lead and market position were simply too vast to dislodge easily.
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At a recent AI summit in Washington, former US President Donald Trump revealed he once considered breaking up Nvidia, the world’s leading maker of AI chips, in an attempt to stimulate competition in the high-stakes artificial intelligence sector. But as he admitted during his address, “it’s not easy in that business.”
“I said, ‘Look, we will break this guy up,’ before I learned the facts here,” Trump told attendees, referring to Nvidia’s dominance in the AI chip market. His initial assumption was that fragmenting the company would allow other players to thrive in the fast-growing space.
According to Trump, advisers briefed him on the challenges such a move would entail, noting that Nvidia’s technological lead and market position were simply too vast to dislodge easily.
“I figured we could go in and we could sort of break them up a little bit, get them a little competition, and I found out it’s not easy in that business,” Trump admitted, adding that the gap between Nvidia and its rivals was too wide, and it would likely take years before any meaningful competition could emerge.
Despite his breakup musings, Trump ultimately struck a more conciliatory tone, reserving high praise for Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who was in the audience. “What a job you have done,” Trump said, calling Huang a “tremendous executive” for his contributions to the global AI landscape.
The admiration appeared mutual. During his own remarks at the summit, Huang returned the compliment, saying, “America’s unique advantage that no other country can possibly have is President Trump.” The two had previously met at the White House earlier this month, signaling a potentially closer alignment between political leadership and AI innovation going forward.
Nvidia, which declined to comment on Trump’s statements, continues to dominate the global AI chip market. The company recently made history by crossing the US$4 trillion market valuation mark, powered by surging demand for its high-performance chips that fuel next-gen AI systems—including large language models.
The company’s strategic positioning extends to geopolitics as well. Nvidia was recently allowed to resume shipments of its H20 AI chips to China, following a loosening of trade restrictions by the Trump administration. The move underscores the tech giant’s crucial role in the evolving global AI race.
