Speaking at the New York Times's DealBook conference in New York, Huang explained how his company's products rely on myriad components that come from different parts of the world -- not just Taiwan, where the most important elements are manufactured.

"We are somewhere between a decade and two decades away from supply chain independence. It's not a practical thing for a decade or two."

It will take a long time to achieve a key White House Biden objective -- bringing more of the chipmaking industry to US shores. Many of the biggest companies are planning to expand their US operations. That includes Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Nvidia's top manufacturing partner, and Samsung and Intel.