Nvidia Is Quietly Ramping Up For A Delicate Dance In Washington

Forbes

As artificial intelligence has become the marquee technology in Silicon Valley, Nvidia has become one of the most valuable companies in the world. Founded more than 30 years ago and previously known for its gaming tech, the company is now a trillion dollar behemoth, thanks to its highly-coveted graphics processing units, or GPUs, used to train AI models.   The artificial intelligence arms race has also made U.S. officials wary of China’s potential as an AI superpower. As a result, Nvidia, as the market leader in GPUs, is one medium through which regulators are withholding access to the most cutting edge technology, in an attempt to keep China at bay.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2024/01/11/nvidia-is-quietly-ramping-up-for-a-delicate-dance-in-washington/?sh=347f34ab69e1  Forbes Daily Briefing shares the best of Forbes reporting on wealth, business, entrepreneurship, leadership and more. Tune in every day, seven days a week, to hear a new story. Subscribe here: https://art19.com/shows/forbes-daily-briefing Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Sunday, January 14th.

00:05 Today on Forbes, NVIDIA is quietly ramping up for a delicate dance in Washington.

00:12 During one whirlwind week in mid-September, NVIDIA swarmed the nation's capital.

00:17 Founder and CEO Jensen Huang was attending a closed-door meeting about artificial intelligence

00:22 with the Senate.

00:23 A day earlier, Bill Dally, the chipmaker's chief scientist, testified before a Senate

00:29 Judiciary Subcommittee about the potential legislation concerning generative AI.

00:34 And that same day, NVIDIA, along with several other tech companies, signed a voluntary pledge

00:39 on AI safety during an event at the White House.

00:43 The tour through Washington highlighted an increasingly important aspect of business

00:47 for NVIDIA, a delicate dance in Washington, maintaining relationships with government

00:52 officials as the company's profile has grown and it has become the face of a national effort

00:56 to hobble China's AI progress.

01:00 As artificial intelligence has become the marquee technology in Silicon Valley, NVIDIA

01:04 has become one of the most valuable companies in the world.

01:08 Founded more than 30 years ago and previously known for its gaming tech, the company is

01:12 now a trillion-dollar behemoth thanks to its highly coveted graphics processing units,

01:18 or GPUs, used to train AI models.

01:22 The artificial intelligence arms race has also made U.S. officials wary of China's potential

01:26 as an AI superpower.

01:29 As a result, NVIDIA, as the market leader in GPUs, is one medium through which regulators

01:34 are withholding access to the most cutting-edge technology in an attempt to keep China at

01:39 bay.

01:40 To gear up for the road ahead, NVIDIA has been quietly ramping up its in-house lobbying operations,

01:47 according to a review of LinkedIn profiles by Forbes.

01:50 This marks a change from its historically low lobbying output.

01:54 Within the past year, the chip giant has hired at least four government affairs staffers

01:59 in Washington, D.C., all former federal employees, with previous experience at agencies including

02:04 U.S. Treasury, State Department, and Homeland Security.

02:09 It's a small step compared to NVIDIA's chipmaker peers, which have more looming presences in

02:13 Washington.

02:15 Rivals AMD and Intel spent $2.7 million and $5 million, respectively, on lobbying last

02:22 year, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks money in U.S. politics.

02:27 NVIDIA's trillion-dollar peers spend even more.

02:30 Last year, Alphabet spent $10.9 million, and Meta racked up $14.6 million.

02:36 By comparison, NVIDIA's lobbying is pittance.

02:40 $350,000 spent last year.

02:44 NVIDIA declined to comment.

02:46 Chris Miller, author of the book "Chip War" and a professor of international history at

02:50 Tufts University, said, "This is the first time they've really had to think very hard

02:55 about these issues."

02:57 He added that other chip companies have more "institutionalized" government affairs operations.

03:03 For example, Intel, with its manufacturing plants, likely lobbied around the CHIPS Act,

03:08 which aims to bring more chip production to the U.S.

03:11 NVIDIA, in contrast, outsources chip manufacturing to partners including TSMC.

03:16 But with AI taking center stage, NVIDIA could feel the need to make more noise in the lobbying

03:22 arena.

03:24 Miller said, "Because they haven't had to deal with such focus on them from the political

03:28 regulatory system in the past, I think it's natural the company is spending more time

03:32 and effort dealing with that."

03:36 James Lin, an international relations professor at the University of Washington's China Studies

03:40 Program, put it another way.

03:43 He said, "They're saying we have to deal with government as everyday business."

03:50 For full coverage, check out Richard Nieves' piece on Forbes.com.

03:55 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

03:57 Thanks for tuning in.

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