Nvidia’s all-hands staff meeting on Thursday morning took an unexpected turn when President Donald Trump called CEO Jensen Huang directly on his mobile phone mid-presentation.
An Onstage Interruption
According to witnesses who spoke to WIRED, Huang was on stage at the company’s Santa Clara headquarters, addressing thousands of employees in person and via livestream, when he received the call. Although Huang stepped aside to take the call, Trump’s distinctive voice was clearly audible through Huang’s onstage microphone, though his specific words could not be made out. Huang returned to the stage and resumed the meeting in less than a minute.
Record Earnings and Political Maneuvering
Hours after the interruption, Trump took to social media to congratulate Huang on Nvidia’s "incredible" quarterly sales and financial outlook. On Wednesday, Nvidia reported second-quarter revenue of $96 billion, a 106 percent increase from the same period last year. The timing of the call is notable, as Nvidia announced the launch of a new employee-funded political action committee (PAC) on the same day, intended to donate to federal candidates as AI policy debates intensify.
Potential Hugging Face Acquisition
Beyond political ties, Nvidia is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire the open-source platform Hugging Face. The deal, which could be valued at over $13 billion, would almost certainly trigger a review by US antitrust regulators. While Huang frequently lobbies in Washington, the relationship remains complex; Nvidia and the Trump administration have historically diverged on issues such as the regulation of open AI models and the export of advanced semiconductors to China.
