What happened
At the All-In Summit in LA on Sep 14, 2026, Jensen Huang put Donald Trump on speakerphone mid-interview; Trump said slowing AI plays into rivals' hands and is a hoax.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang put US President Donald Trump on speakerphone mid-interview at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles on September 14, 2026, turning a tech conference into a live policy moment. Trump told the crowd that calls to slow AI development are 'playing right in the hands' of political opponents and China, calling the push a 'hoax' that the US will not allow.
Huang replied instantly, 'You're right. We're not going to let that happen, sir,' as the audience broke into applause. Trump joked that Huang can build the world's most complex chips but 'can't figure out how to put you on speaker,' then added the US must act 'prudently' without stopping an industry: 'I'm with you all the way.' He also called data centers 'the oil of the next 20, 25 years.'
The exchange followed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's essay 'We Must Pace the Frontier,' which argued for deliberately slowing frontier AI progress. TechCrunch and CNBC reported that Elon Musk and OpenAI chief Sam Altman said they agreed with Amodei, while Huang's stance has split from that camp. TNW noted Huang elsewhere at the same event called apocalyptic AI warnings 'not grounded in science' and acknowledged Anthropic whistleblower Jacob Coxon.
The All-In Summit is hosted by the All-In podcast — David Sacks, Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis and David Friedberg, with Sacks and Friedberg also serving as White House advisers. The call was timestamped 2:51 PM PDT and covered by TechCrunch's Amanda Silberling, with CNBC, The Next Web and The Straits Times corroborating the details.
Why this moment matters
The call was more than stage drama. Amodei's slowdown essay had split Silicon Valley — Musk and Altman backed pacing frontier development, Huang broke away. Trump framing opposition as a hoax and data centers as generational oil signals that Washington will keep accelerating, not pausing. Huang's narrower line that apocalyptic fears are 'not grounded in science' shows he isn't fully mirroring Trump, but on the core question — should AI be throttled — they are aligned.
Timeline
- Weekend before Sep 14 — Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei publishes 'We Must Pace the Frontier' urging an AI slowdown.
- Sep 14, 2:51 PM PDT — Huang puts Trump on speaker at All-In Summit in LA; Trump calls slowdown a hoax.
- Same event — Huang notes apocalyptic predictions 'not grounded in science' and acknowledges whistleblower Jacob Coxon.
Why it matters for me
The White House signal stays pro-acceleration — no forced AI pause, keeping chip demand and data-center buildout on the fast track.
Work
Tech Professionals · Business Executives
US policy signal stays pro-acceleration — no mandated AI pause, so chip and data-center investment keeps momentum.
Money
Business Executives · Tech Professionals
Nvidia and cloud builders get political tailwind — data centers framed as 'oil of the next 20-25 years' boosts demand narrative.
Daily Life
General Public
Debate over AI risks vs speed gets more polarized — public will hear 'hoax' framing alongside safety warnings from Anthropic and others.
What to remember
No AI slowdown coming — at least from the White House and Nvidia.
Huang puts Trump on speaker at All-In Summit — Trump calls AI slowdown a hoax, Huang says 'we're not going to let that happen.'
Verified sources (4)
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang tells Trump 'we're not going to let [an AI slowdown] happen'
↗Trump phones Nvidia's Huang at All-In Summit, calls data center opposition a 'hoax'
↗Trump phoned Jensen Huang onstage at the All-In Summit to call AI fear a hoax
↗Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang puts Trump on speakerphone while downplaying AI risks
↗Claims and linked sources
6 claimsNvidia CEO Jensen Huang put President Donald Trump on speakerphone while speaking onstage at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles on Monday, September 14, 2026.
Trump told the All-In audience that calls to slow AI are 'just playing right in the hands of a lot of people that don't want to see it happen' and that it 'could be political people. It could also be China. And we're not going to let that happen. It's a hoax.'
Huang replied 'You're right. We're not going to let that happen, sir,' as the audience applauded.
The call followed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's essay 'We Must Pace the Frontier' arguing for intentionally slowing frontier AI capability development.
Trump described data centers as 'the oil of the next 20, 25 years' during the same call.
Trump joked Huang can build the most complex chip in the world but struggled to put the call on speaker.