NVIDIA GTC Washington, D.C. 2025: Where AI Meets Power (Literally)

The main event is Jensen Huang’s keynote at noon on October 28, and if past GTCs are any clue, expect leather jackets, metaphors about digital universes, and some very expensive chips.

Before he takes the stage, there’s a pregame show at 8:30 a.m. ET, featuring Brad Gerstner, Patrick Moorhead, and Kristina Partsinevelos trading predictions and market gossip about what’s next for AI. Think of it as the tech world’s version of sports commentary, except everyone owns stock.

According to NVIDIA’s blog, the event packs in over 70 sessions and workshops on topics ranging from agentic AI to quantum computing. Translation: people will be pretending to understand things that won’t exist in consumer form for another five years.

There will also be demos on robotics, digital twins, and AI safety, because nothing says “cutting-edge technology” like a robot politely handing you a lanyard.

Holding GTC in D.C. instead of San Jose isn’t just about changing scenery. Axios noted that this move brings NVIDIA’s message straight to policymakers and federal agencies, many of which are now serious customers for AI computing power.

Huang is expected to pitch AI as the next national infrastructure—right up there with roads, bridges, and arguments about the debt ceiling.

AP News reports that the conference will spotlight how AI is transforming energy grids, public health, and defence.

Expect a mix of optimism and existential dread, the kind that only comes when you realise the same chips teaching cars to park themselves are also simulating missile trajectories.

And yes, the crowd will be a mix of venture capitalists, policy wonks, and data scientists wearing GTC hoodies. The vibe? Equal parts TED Talk and congressional hearing.

NVIDIA will be live-blogging announcements throughout the week, pumping out updates faster than your GPU can render them. You can follow along directly from NVIDIA’s newsroom.

Why does this matter? Because GTC has quietly become where the next big AI hardware and software announcements drop. If you care about what’s powering the world’s data centres—or the race to build machines that “think”... this is the show to watch. If you don’t care, you might still want to, because whatever Jensen unveils on that stage tends to ripple across the tech industry for years.

So yes, NVIDIA is coming to the capital to show off its silicon and charm the regulators. The rest of us get to watch the spectacle. Expect grand visions, a few understated warnings about “AI responsibility,” and a closing line from Jensen about how “we’re just getting started.”

Spoiler: he always says that. And somehow, every time, he’s right.