"Let's break this company up!" Trump revealed: once considered splitting Nvidia.

"I originally thought we could take action to break them up and create some competition, but I found out that it's not easy to do this in this industry."

Written by: Zhao Yuhe

Source: Wall Street Journal

U.S. President Trump revealed at the AI Summit in Washington on Wednesday that he had considered breaking up Nvidia to increase competition in the artificial intelligence chip market, but later found that "it's not easy to do."

According to reports, Trump stated that his assistants told him that splitting Nvidia is "very difficult" because the company has a clear lead in the AI chip sector, and it would take years for other competitors to catch up. Trump then praised Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on site, commending his achievements.

On the same day, Trump signed three executive orders and released the "AI Action Plan," emphasizing that the United States will lead the world in artificial intelligence "at all costs." The core objective of this "AI Action Plan" is to ensure that the U.S. maintains its dominance in the field of artificial intelligence and provides American companies with an environment that allows for rapid growth and expansion.

Trump emphasized that the United States must observe the systems of all other countries regarding artificial intelligence. At the same time, the AI competition will require "patriotism," including Silicon Valley, where American tech companies need to put America first.

Several leaders in the tech industry attended an event jointly organized by the "All-In Podcast" and the "Hill & Valley Forum" to witness the launch of this initiative. Attendees included tech giants such as NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su.

Considered splitting Nvidia

In his speech, Trump revealed that he had considered splitting Nvidia to increase market competition in the field of artificial intelligence chips, but later found that "it wasn't easy to do."

"I said at the time, 'Let's break this company apart,' but later I understood the actual situation of the industry."

He stated that his assistants told him it is "very difficult" to do so because Nvidia has a clear lead in this field, and it will take other competitors years to catch up.

"I originally thought we could step in, break them up a bit, and create some competition, but it turns out it's not easy to do in this industry."

Subsequently, Trump expressed his appreciation for NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, who was also present on that day. "You did a great job," Trump said. Throughout the speech, Trump repeatedly mentioned and praised Huang and other tech industry leaders for their investments in the United States.

Earlier that day, Jensen Huang also praised Trump's stance on artificial intelligence during his speech.

"The United States has a unique advantage that other countries cannot possess, which is President Trump."

Trump Signs Three Executive Orders

On that day, Trump signed three executive orders related to the "AI Action Plan" to promote the implementation of the plan. The directives include: utilizing the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the Export-Import Bank to support the deployment of U.S. technology globally; another order will require that all large language models procured by the government must remain neutral and unbiased.

David Sacks, the White House AI policy lead, predicts that there may be further advancements in replacing state-level AI policies with federal ones in the future. He noted:

"We have not formally established the relevant policies in this action plan, but I believe this is an issue that must be seriously examined in the next year or two."

Michael Kratsios, the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, emphasized the role of Congress in this matter. He stated:

"Discussions on federal priority are largely related to the authority of Congress. Therefore, we will not forcefully advance in this area, but will instead focus on matters that we can implement effectively."

"Neutrality Measures" have legal questions

However, legal scholars on the U.S. Constitution have expressed to the media that the legality of the "AI neutrality" restrictions proposed by Trump is questionable.

Rory Little, a professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, stated to the media.

"If you punish liberal software but do not punish conservative software, then this executive order is based on content discrimination."

"I don't even know how to judge whether a software is liberal or conservative," Little added, pointing out that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution views intellectual property as a form of speech, and the government cannot target it for suppression.

However, the constitutionality of this order may not have a significant short-term impact on companies like Amazon, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Perplexity, which are competing to provide AI systems to the government.

Even if the command faces legal challenges, the AI development company may not be able to wait for the court's ruling.

Little said:

"Many companies are now trying hard to strike deals with the Trump administration, so they do not consider these executive orders as laws, but rather as starting points for negotiation."

"If you are an AI company, like Google, you might try your best to negotiate with the government to find a way to continue advancing your business. As for the external political atmosphere, you might not care at all, as long as your software can make money."

The White House Releases the "AI Action Plan"

Earlier that day, the Trump administration released the "AI Action Plan" aimed at accelerating the development of artificial intelligence in the United States by easing regulations and expanding energy supply for data centers. The newly released guidelines also recommend pausing funding support for states that impose excessive regulations on emerging technologies.

The "AI Action Plan" recommends reforming the licensing and approval process and simplifying environmental standards to expedite the progress of AI-related infrastructure projects. The blueprint also aims to make American technology the foundation of global AI.

This 23-page plan was ordered by Trump shortly after he took office in January of this year, marking the most significant policy directive from this U.S. government in the field of artificial intelligence, a technology that could reshape the global economy.

This blueprint reflects Trump's commitment during his campaign to position the U.S. as a global AI leader, while abolishing the Biden administration's overly strict regulatory framework on AI.

The Biden administration issued an order in 2023 that called for extensive security testing and required major AI developers to release transparency reports. Trump, on the other hand, called for the establishment of a new policy path for AI and set a six-month deadline for the White House AI affairs director, David Sacks.

The new plan suggests that the federal government solicit opinions from businesses and the public to understand the current regulatory policies that hinder AI applications, and use this as a basis to advocate for the withdrawal of regulations. The White House Office of Management and Budget will also work with federal agencies responsible for AI-related funding, and if a state's regulatory system may affect the effectiveness of funding, consideration will be given to limiting that state's eligibility for funding.

The guidelines also require the federal government to contract only with companies that develop AI models "without top-down ideological bias," while also requiring the removal of content related to misinformation, diversity, equity, and climate change from the risk management framework.