Jensen Huang Took Trump's Call on a Phone Nobody Can Buy Yet

Key points

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang appeared at the All-In conference in Los Angeles on September 14, 2026, where President Trump called him live on stage.
• Huang answered the call on Apple's unreleased foldable iPhone, a device not due in stores for another five weeks at the time.
• Trump called AI safety fears a "hoax," saying the technology is "bigger than the internet" and too important to slow down.
• Nvidia's stock was up 33% over the past year as of that day, though it fell a few percentage points following the event.
• Apple and Nvidia parted ways on hardware over a decade ago; Apple now runs part of its Apple Intelligence AI software on Nvidia chips.

The phone caught people's attention first. Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, the company whose specialised chips power most of the world's AI systems, walked out in his signature alligator leather jacket and was handed an unreleased Apple foldable to take a live call from President Trump. That device won't be in stores for another five weeks. We covered it when Apple announced it on 9 September, in "Apple's First Foldable Phone, the iPhone Duo, Leads a Packed Fall Lineup".

Flashing a phone nobody can buy yet, on a live stage, while the president is on the line: that's a statement, even if Huang never said a word about it.

What did Trump and Huang actually say?

They agreed that public fear around AI safety is overblown. Trump called those fears a "hoax," arguing the real winners of AI panic are China and "political people." The technology is "bigger than the internet," he said, and not something America should slow down over. Huang relayed the crowd's applause to Trump mid-call.

Whether Huang personally believes that, or simply can't afford to say otherwise in public, is an open question. Nvidia's entire business depends on AI laboratories buying more of its chips. Downplaying concerns about AI risk is the financially comfortable position for a company whose stock is up 33% over the past year, even after a slight dip on the day.

Why does the phone matter?

The Apple foldable wasn't a random prop. A decade ago, Apple stopped using Nvidia hardware in its own products. Now Apple runs part of Apple Intelligence, its suite of on-device AI features, on Nvidia's chips. Being handed that phone on stage was, as first reported by TechCrunch AI, a quiet signal of how much has shifted.

For ordinary readers the stakes are practical. Two of the most powerful voices in technology and politics used a major public moment to wave away worries about AI safety. That view shapes how fast AI gets built and how slowly it gets regulated. Worth knowing who's saying it, and why they might.

Reporter's judgement: The real story here isn't the phone flex or even Trump's hoax line. It's that Huang said almost nothing, and his silence did more work than any quote could.