US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick built a close relationship with former Nvidia chief Jensen Huang at a time when US control over chip exports was weakening, CNN writes. According to the TV channel, Lutnick called Huang even before he was confirmed as minister in February 2025 and subsequently made decisions beneficial to Nvidia.
The publication notes that it was Lutnick who played a key role in persuading President Donald Trump's administration to allow Nvidia to sell H20 chips to Chinese customers. In particular, he helped Huang get to a dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where the head of Nvidia directly urged Trump to lift the restrictions. Liutnik later publicly explained this decision as a desire to "connect China" to American technology.