Jensen Huang is joining Trump’s China trip after the U.S. president called the Nvidia CEO

BEIJING — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is joining U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to China this week, the chipmaker confirmed to CNBC, after initial indications the executive had not been invited.

After seeing the media coverage of Huang’s absence from the delegation, Trump called the Nvidia executive and asked him to join, a source familiar with the situation told CNBC.

Huang flew to Alaska to board Air Force One, the source said.

Trump is bringing more than a dozen U.S. executives to Beijing this week where he is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday and Friday.

“Jensen is attending the summit at the invitation of President Trump to support America and the administration’s goals,” a spokesperson for the chip giant said in a statement. Nvidia referred to the same comment when asked about Huang joining mid-journey in Alaska, but did not provide a reason.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nvidia’s most advanced chips, widely used for training AI models, have faced tighter U.S. restrictions on China sales over the last four years. The company said in February that U.S.-government-approved versions of the chips had yet to be allowed into China.

“I still believe that we are far away from a deal on export controls … it’s positive that he’s there and he’s part of the President’s delegation, and that that that’s important for him and it’s important for the President,” Carlos Gutierrez, former U.S. secretary of commerce, told “Squawk Box Asia.”