Before the world knew his name, Jensen Huang had already become one of the most influential figures in artificial intelligence development.
Last year, Huang revealed to media that Trump often called him late at night.
When Trump called, he told Huang over speakerphone that he endorsed his stance and dismissed AI safety warnings as "a hoax".
"Huang has been extremely savvy in cultivating a close personal relationship with Trump," said Samuel Hammond, director of Artificial Intelligence Policy and chief economist at the Foundation for American Innovation.
Huang has urged Washington to lift restrictions on sales of advanced AI chips to China, arguing that keeping Nvidia out only accelerates Beijing's shift toward homegrown chips.
Nvidia's ambitions loomed over Thursday's White House state dinner, hosted for the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and attended by a long list of tech titans.
Earlier this year, Huang also joined Trump's delegation to China, following a last-minute phone call from the US president after he noticed Huang had not been invited.
Nvidia is now valued at around $US5.4 trillion.
Born in Taiwan and raised in Thailand, he described a strict upbringing by his Taiwanese parents, to whom "nothing is ever good enough" and whose criticism was relentless.
In a recent interview with CAN Media Agency, Huang said that he still worked seven days a week.
Independent AI researcher Andy Masley told the ABC he agreed with Huang "in some important ways but not others".
Yongfeng Li, a Hong Kong-based AI observer, said: "At its core, Jensen Huang is part of Taiwan's semiconductor sector."