Behind Musk's Support for Jensen Huang, Computing Power Costs More Than Favors
Author: David, TechFlow
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While the outside world is still speculating whether Jensen Huang will resign due to dual extramarital affairs, Musk publicly caught the comment with a reply: "It would be my honor." This is more than just polite pleasantries between tech moguls on the front lines; behind it lies a deep commercial and political binding between the two companies. SpaceX has just finalized a GPU financing lease agreement worth approximately $40 billion, betting its future computing power entirely on Nvidia, while Nvidia holds over $21 billion in SpaceX shares. Amidst the complex interplay among Trump, Congress, and chip exports, Musk's defense of Huang is essentially safeguarding his own lifeline for computing power.
As the outside world frantically speculated whether Huang would be forced to hand over the CEO reins, Musk stepped in with a witty remark.
Someone called out to Musk on social media, suggesting he recruit Huang into his ranks. Musk did not avoid it, replying directly with "It would be my honor." To outsiders, this looked much like two Silicon Valley top-tier figures showing mutual appreciation in a time of crisis.
Just days earlier, the 63-year-old Huang wrote to all employees admitting to an extramarital affair, after which Nvidia's board announced an independent investigation. Before the storm subsided, media outlets successively reported a second inappropriate relationship between him and a subordinate vice president, as well as questions raised by U.S. Congress members regarding chip exports and national security risks. Wall Street even began circulating rumors that the board was meeting to discuss his fate.
Huang's crisis is rapidly evolving from a private moral issue into a political storm involving corporate governance and White House oversight.
Musk choosing this exact moment to make a statement is by no means just about loyalty. Peeling back this jest reveals a massive computing power ledger that neither side can afford to lose, and a tightly woven web of interests that has long been stitched together.
$40 Billion in Computing Power and $21 Billion in Equity: The Two Companies Are Already Bi-Directionally Locked In
The reason Musk is more anxious about Huang's leadership position than anyone else is that his AI business empire has staked everything on Nvidia's roadmap.
This year, SpaceX and its absorbed and integrated xAI cluster explicitly announced that their data centers will exclusively adopt Nvidia's architecture, particularly the next-generation Vera Rubin chips. To support massive model training and space-air-ground integrated computing, Musk recently finalized a GPU financing lease agreement worth approximately $40 billion. Spearheaded by Wall Street asset management giants like Apollo Global Management, the equipment is scheduled for phased delivery starting in the first half of 2027.
This is far from a standard procurement contract; it is a long-term bet on production capacity. In a cycle where advanced computing power is extremely scarce, who gets the top-priority chip quotas and whose server rooms get powered up first often depends on a single word between the leaders.
Nvidia, on its end, has long ceased to be merely a hardware seller.
Through early strategic investments in xAI, Nvidia holds approximately 122.8 million shares of SpaceX on its balance sheet. As of the end of the second quarter this year, the book value of these stakes exceeds $21 billion, serving as a highly substantial cornerstone in Nvidia's external investment portfolio.
Capital and goods have formed a rare bi-directional closed loop between these two giants. Musk uses funds raised from Wall Street to lock in Huang's production capacity on a large scale, while Nvidia reverse-deposits its earned profits and capital as equity stakes in Musk's rocket company.
In such a highly interlocked structure, Huang is not just a CEO, but the trust hub across the entire fulfillment chain. If Nvidia is forced to change its leadership or falls into a lengthy internal governance tug-of-war, even minor adjustments in priority or any delays in delivering the next generation of architecture would immediately strangle Musk.
Allies at the White House Table: Neither Can Afford a Supply Chain Leadership Change
Beyond commercial ledgers, both have aligned within the same political camp in Washington.
During the recent U.S. election cycle, Musk poured over $291 million into political action committees and related organizations supporting Trump, becoming a key financier for the Republican Party's return to the White House.
Nvidia likewise understands Washington's survival philosophy. At a sensitive juncture where delicate games were unfolding over U.S. chip export controls on China, Nvidia pledged $25 million to the White House State Dining Room renovation project, tying for the highest tier alongside Apple.
Thus, when Huang's scandal first surfaced—and was even labeled with espionage and export loophole allegations—Trump promptly went public to strongly defend Huang as a "good guy," explicitly stating that he did not believe Huang had knowledge of so-called intelligence activities.
This stance is no accident. Washington's control over advanced chips is forming new divisions. With shifts in congressional seats, some lawmakers are demanding special investigations into chip transshipment and Southeast Asian data centers, pushing Huang right into the bullseye of bipartisan maneuvering.
For Musk, Trump's trust serves as a moat for his policy influence, while a Nvidia leader who can directly converse at the White House and withstand extreme pressure from Congress is the cornerstone for maintaining the stability of the domestic AI supply chain.
In the ongoing computing power contest, whoever controls chip production capacity and can effectively articulate industry logic in the Oval Office holds significantly greater practical value than a CEO's personal morality.
The Machines Cannot Stop; Morality Must Take a Back Seat
Looking back at Musk's "It would be my honor," rather than extending an olive branch to Huang, it is more akin to publicly endorsing their alliance from afar.
The details of extramarital affairs will be magnified by the media, and violations in superior-subordinate relationships will be left to outside lawyers to investigate, but in front of a computing arms race involving hundreds of billions of dollars, these are ultimately mere interludes.
Musk is fully aware that every day global state-of-the-art AI clusters sit idle incurs astronomical depreciation and electricity costs; without Nvidia under Huang's control, the entire Silicon Valley chip scheduling timeline would need to be rewritten.
Washington politicians care about hearings and geopolitical accusations, independent board directors focus on compliance procedures and reputational risks, while the tech oligarchs seated at the computing table only care whether they can get power scheduled on time next week.
Musk made his position crystal clear with a joke. In this game of computing power and influence, as long as the machines keep running, Huang's seat is by no means just about him alone.