Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is set to accompany U.S. President Donald Trump on a state visit to the United Kingdom next week, a source familiar with the plans told CNBC’s Kristina Partsinevelos on Monday. The source requested anonymity to discuss the trip.
Huang will be joined by a number of other prominent U.S. business leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, according to Sky News, which first reported the itinerary. Apple CEO Tim Cook was reportedly invited as well. The executives are expected to attend a state banquet hosted by King Charles during the visit.
Huang’s inclusion on the U.K. trip is notable given his absence from Trump’s recent White House dinner for tech CEOs last week. Analysts and industry observers view Huang’s participation as a signal of Nvidia’s commitment to managing its relationship with the U.S. president, particularly as the company seeks new export licenses for its current-generation Blackwell chips in China.
Earlier this year, Nvidia’s access to the Chinese market was restricted under U.S. export controls, prompting Huang to meet with Trump twice at the White House over the summer. Those meetings resulted in export waivers for Nvidia’s China-bound H20 AI chips, although details regarding the U.S. government’s share of the revenue were still being finalized. Trump previously stated that he negotiated a 15% cut of the H20 chip sales with Huang, while Nvidia has clarified that the arrangement is not yet concluded.
Huang has previously praised Trump for his support of U.S. manufacturing and has emphasized that allowing Nvidia to export AI chips to China benefits national security by keeping the United States at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation. Trump, for his part, has publicly lauded Nvidia as a technological leader and celebrated when the company reached a $4 trillion market capitalization.
This trip is not Huang’s first international engagement with Trump. He accompanied the president to Saudi Arabia in May for an investment forum, underscoring the ongoing collaboration between the chipmaker and the U.S. administration.
Nvidia’s efforts to secure China licenses come amid shifting geopolitical dynamics. The company had previously been forced to scrap H20 chips that could have generated as much as $8 billion in a single quarter. Currently, Nvidia estimates it could sell up to $5 billion of these chips in the current quarter, contingent on approvals and international relations. Huang recently told investors there is a “real possibility” of obtaining permission to export newer chips to China, highlighting the company’s strategic focus on maintaining access to critical foreign markets.
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