NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said his company has maintained a three-decade partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) without ever signing a formal contract, underscoring the role of trust in one of the world’s most critical technology supply chains.
Huang made the remarks during an appearance on theLex Fridman Podcast, a long-form interview program hosted by AI researcher and MIT scientistLex Fridman, known for in-depth conversations with leading figures in technology, science, and business.
The more than two-hour interview, released as episode 494, covered topics ranging from artificial intelligence to leadership. However, Huang’s comments on TSMC and supply chain dynamics quickly drew global attention.
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A Partnership Built on Trust
Huang said NVIDIA and TSMC have worked together for approximately 30 years, with total transactions likely reaching tens — and possibly hundreds — of billions of U.S. dollars.
“Not once have we signed a contract,” Huang said, describing a relationship that departs sharply from standard corporate practice, where major commercial ties are typically governed by detailed legal agreements.
The disclosure highlights an unusual level of mutual reliance between two companies whose combined market value exceeds $5 trillion.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said his company has maintained a three-decade partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) without ever signing a formal contract — underscoring the role of trust in one of the world's most critical technology supply chains.
Huang made the remarks during episode 494 of the Lex Fridman Podcast, a more than two-hour conversation that covered artificial intelligence, computing scale, and leadership philosophy. His comments on TSMC drew immediate attention across global technology media.
Not Transistors — a 'Miraculous System' Managing Hundreds of Clients
When host Lex Fridman asked Huang how he understood TSMC's culture and competitive edge, the response surprised many.
Huang said the most common misconception about TSMC is that its dominance rests on technology — as if a competitor producing a better transistor could simply displace it. He acknowledged that TSMC's technical capabilities are world-class, spanning transistor design, metallization systems, advanced packaging, 3D integration, and silicon photonics. But he argued these are not the real source of its irreplaceability.
What sets TSMC apart, Huang said, is its ability to simultaneously manage the dynamic, shifting demands of hundreds of clients. He described a highly complex operational environment in which customers are constantly adjusting — some scaling up production, others pulling back, some placing urgent orders, others requesting delays — with priorities in perpetual flux. TSMC's ability to coordinate all of this with precision is what he called "miraculous."
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Thirty Years, No Contract: A Handshake Deal Worth Hundreds of Billions
When Fridman raised the depth of the NVIDIA–TSMC relationship, Huang revealed a striking detail.
The partnership has lasted thirty years, he said, with total transactions likely reaching tens — and possibly hundreds — of billions of U.S. dollars. In all that time, the two companies have never signed a formal contract.
The disclosure, which came around the 1-hour-13-minute mark of the interview, spread rapidly across technology media and social platforms. That two companies with a combined market capitalization exceeding $5 trillion sustain their most critical commercial relationship on trust alone runs sharply against the norms of modern business.
Technology and Service: TSMC's Rare Dual Culture
Huang went further in analyzing what makes TSMC structurally difficult to replicate.
In the semiconductor industry, he said, companies that excel technically tend to struggle with customer relationships, while those oriented around service often fall behind technologically. TSMC, he argued, has built a culture that genuinely achieves both — and that combination is precisely what makes it so hard for any competitor to challenge its position in the global foundry market.
Morris Chang Once Asked Huang to Run TSMC. He Said No.
Huang also confirmed a long-circulating industry rumor: in 2013, TSMC founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) invited him to become the company's chief executive.
He said he did not take the offer lightly and was deeply honored — but ultimately chose to stay at NVIDIA. He added that he knew then, as he does now, that TSMC is among the most consequential companies in the history of business, and that Chang is one of the most respected business leaders and closest personal friends of his life.
The disclosure adds a personal dimension to what has otherwise been understood as a purely commercial relationship between the two companies.
From Supply Chain Anxiety to 'I Trust Them to Deliver'
Fridman also pressed Huang on supply chain vulnerabilities — specifically ASML's extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment, TSMC's CoWoS advanced packaging capacity, and SK Hynix's high-bandwidth memory.
Huang said he monitors all of these closely, but without anxiety. He has told his partners what he needs, they understand, they have committed to deliver, and he trusts them.
That approach — trust-based, without contractual safeguards or supplier diversification strategies — is rare in modern industry. Yet NVIDIA has expanded at an unprecedented pace in recent years and continues to accelerate, suggesting the model works at least as well as any legal document.
A Business Parable About Trust
Throughout the interview, Huang returned repeatedly to the theme of trust as operational infrastructure. He described spending considerable time with partner CEOs — explaining industry trends, reasoning through the future from first principles, drawing diagrams to walk through the logic. Because those partners trust him, and because he respects them, he said, when he asks them to commit billions of dollars in capital expenditure, they follow through.
As demand for AI computing surges and global semiconductor supply chains face mounting pressure, Huang's remarks carry a clear message: at the highest levels of the technology industry, trust is not a soft asset — its value exceeds any contract.
TSMC's irreplaceability, he concluded, lies not only in its ability to produce the world's most advanced chips, but in having built a system of trust that hundreds of the world's most powerful technology companies are willing to stake their futures on.
You've read it. Now let's talk. Follow us on X. Editor: Penny Wang
