Clout wars: Jensen Huang eclipses Elon Musk and Tim Cook in Washington

It's worth noting that Experts say that Nvidia's Jensen Huang has surpassed Apple's Tim Cook in political cachet amid the AI revolution and Donald Trump's second presidential administration. "Huang has become a global figure and taken on a new role politically," said Wedbush's Dan Ives, adding that the importance of Nvidia's AI chips has "vaulted him ahead of Cook" in that sense, in today's financial world

President Donald Trump (L) listens as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks in the Cross Hall of the White House during an event on " in America" on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC

Andrew Harnik | Getty ImagesThe China-U (an important development), considering recent developments

Trade war in the first Donald Trump administration saw Apple CEO Tim Cook go on a charm offensive with the president while maintaining strong relations with Beijing

Apple avoided U (this bears monitoring)

Tariffs and continued to grow in China, while Cook earned the reputation as a skilled policy navigator and minent American envoy to Beijing

On the other hand, But, in Trump 2

Nevertheless, 0, not only has Apple lost its crown to Nvidia as America's most valuable company, several pundits say the AI darling's charismatic leader, Jensen Huang, has left Cook far behind in political influence, amid market uncertainty

Furthermore, "Huang has become a global figure and taken on a new role politically due to his success in the AI revolution," said Wedbush's Dan Ives, adding that the importance of Nvidia's AI chips has "vaulted him ahead of Cook, given current economic conditions. " "He has found himself in a very strong position to navigate the political landscape

However, [as] there is only one chip in the world fueling the AI revolution, and that's Nvidia's," Ives said

The optics of Huang's political ascendancy have never been stronger, as Nvidia last week announced during its CEO's visit to Beijing that it expected to soon resume sales of its H20 AI chips to China (noteworthy indeed)

Huang's 'historic' week The exports of the H20 chip to China had been restricted earlier this year — a move that Huang openly lobbied against, considering recent developments. "It was a historic win for Nvidia and Jensen

And I think it shows the increasing political influence that Huang's having within the Trump administration," Ives said

Huang had met with Trump in DC right before his China visit

At the same time, The H20 reversal has been linked to trade negotiations between the U

However, several experts told CNBC that Huang's lobbying played a large role in it

Additionally, The Nvidia CEO has met with Trump many times this year, including joining him on a trip to the Middle East in May, which resulted in a massive AI deal that will see the dery of hundreds of thousands of Nvidia's advanced AI chips to the United Arab Emirates

This analysis suggests that Emirates deal had been seen as a way for America to push its global leadership, solidifying its nology stack in a new market over potential rivals China's Huawei, given the current landscape

After the trip, Huang increasingly began making a case against U

Nevertheless, Chip restrictions, arguing that they would erode America's leadership to the benefit of domestic Chinese players, given current economic conditions

According to a report from the New York Times, this had also been a narrative Huang had been pushing to Trump and his officials behind the scenes

Paul Triolo, senior vice president for China and nology policy lead at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group, told CNBC that Huang's arguments aligned with the thinking of influential White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks, further swaying the administration to lift restrictions on H20 chip exports (quite telling). "Sacks and Huang both argue that limiting exports of U

Additionally, Nology such as select and non-cutting-edge GPUs to China risks pushing Chinese companies to use domestic alternatives

At the end of the day, this argument ly carried the day on the H20 issue," he said

It's un when or if Nvidia will restart duction lines of the H20, but if Nvidia is simply able to sell existing stocks of the chips, it will still be a "significant revenue boost and beneficial to Nvidia in terms of retaining clients' goodwill in China," Triolo added

Nevertheless, Nvidia said it took a $4

Moreover, Huang said last week that every civil AI model should run on the U

Nevertheless, Nology stack, "encouraging nations worldwide to choose America," as Nvidia announced resuming H20 sales soon

Not Musk, not CookWhen Trump won his second presidential election in November, many had expected a different CEO to hold the most influence on the administration and to act as a bridge between the U

But Tesla's Elon Musk had a rather public break-up with Trump

In November, experts told CNBC that Musk's close ties to Trump and his interests in China could help soften the president's aggressive trade stance toward Beijing, while cautioning against putting too much stock into the Tesla CEO

However, At the same time, Meanwhile, under Trump's second presidency, Apple's Cook has seen some strong pushback from the administration, amid market uncertainty

In May, Trump expressed a "little blem with Tim Cook" over Apple manufacturing ducts in India, despite the iPhone maker's commitment of a $500 billion investment in the U, in this volatile climate

Nevertheless, , announced in February

In response to the trade tensions between China and the U, given the current landscape

Nevertheless, , Apple has accelerated efforts to de-risk supply chains from China by moving more iPhone duction to India, given current economic conditions

Earlier this month, Trump adviser Peter Navarro also criticized Cook, saying he was not moving duction out of China fast enough

Apple and Cook were seen as the most influential company and CEO, respectively, in the first Trump administration, but now its Huang and Nvidia, said Ray Wang, CEO of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Re. "Almost everything rides on Nvidia's chips (fascinating analysis), given current economic conditions

In contrast, "Risks remainAccording Triolo, while Huang has so far been able to "fairly deftly straddle both the U

Government and China market" and "President Trump appears to be a big fan," it remains un exactly where the administration will draw the line on chip restrictions

Nevertheless, "The goalposts here have been changed several times, causing significant and costly forced redesigns and booking capacity," he said (this bears monitoring)

Despite Huang's growing influence in the world and in the Trump administration, there is no guarantee it will remain that way, other experts said

Nevertheless, "For the moment, NVIDIA has gone from being the chief target of chip controls to chief influencer

The question is, how long will that moment last

However, " said Reva Goujon, a director at Rhodium Group

Is also currently carrying out an investigation on the semiconductor industry that could result in sector-wide tariffs, and once again put the Trump administration's aims at odds with Nvidia's

While Nvidia has been moving more manufacturing to the U. , most of it remains in Taiwan

Nevertheless, Cook may offer a lesson on how tricky it can be to operate a major nology that views both China and the U.