Jensen Huang Heads to China Instead of Attending Trump's Inauguration... Why?

Big Tech CEOs Gather at Trump’s Inauguration
After U.S. Announces Additional Sanctions on Advanced AI Chips
Nvidia CEO Visits China
China Accounts for 17% of Nvidia’s Revenue

On the 20th (local time), at the inauguration ceremony of U.S. President Donald Trump held in Washington D.C., big tech giants such as Tesla, Apple, Google, and Amazon were all present. However, Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, was notably absent. At that time, he was in China. This move is analyzed as prioritizing China, a major player for Nvidia, amid the rapid rise of Chinese technology in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced semiconductors.

According to foreign media including Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP), CEO Huang attended the Lunar New Year (Chunje, 春節) event at Nvidia's Beijing office on the 19th and gave a speech on AI development. He said, "We have gathered here to celebrate the beginning of a new era called AI with the start of the new year."

He also emphasized the close relationship between China and Nvidia. Huang stated, "It has been 25 years since Nvidia entered China," and noted that the turnover rate of Chinese employees is the lowest in the world. Prior to this, Huang attended the annual Lunar New Year event at Nvidia's Shenzhen office on the 15th and visited the year-end ceremony at the Taiwan office.

Huang’s actions differ from those of other big tech leaders. While he was busy with his schedule in China, Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla), Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Meta), Tim Cook (CEO of Apple), and Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon) were sitting right behind President Trump’s family, listening to the president’s inaugural address.

Unlike other big tech leaders who attended the inauguration to make an impression on the new White House administration, Huang’s choice to visit China sparked various interpretations. It is seen as a schedule reflecting the importance of the Chinese market, a major customer for Nvidia, amid escalating U.S.-China tensions. Approximately 17% of Nvidia’s revenue comes from the Chinese region. The timing of the visit is also notable. Coincidentally, his visit took place after the U.S. government announced plans to tighten export controls on advanced AI chips. On the 3rd, the U.S. government declared restrictions on Nvidia’s AI semiconductor exports to most countries except allies including South Korea. This is interpreted as an attempt to curb China’s access to technology as it pursues AI semiconductor advancements. Bloomberg also reported, "Nvidia’s CEO, at the center of U.S.-China tech conflicts, decided to tour China at a sensitive time."

However, Nvidia expressed discomfort with the U.S. government’s measures. In a statement released immediately after the sanctions announcement, Nvidia said, "Regulations restricting exports to most of the world will not reduce the risk of AI semiconductor misuse but will instead mark a significant turning point threatening economic growth and U.S. leadership," adding, "It threatens the market and suppresses competition, which is the lifeblood of innovation."

Meanwhile, there is speculation about additional AI semiconductor sanctions related to the Chinese AI startup ‘DeepSeek.’ On the 29th (local time), Bloomberg cited multiple anonymous sources saying that discussions are still in very early stages given the newness of the administration, but there is a possibility that export controls could be expanded to include Nvidia’s H20 chip product. The H20 is a low-spec product Nvidia released in compliance with existing U.S. export controls on China. If this happens, Nvidia’s exports to China would be further restricted, potentially impacting its sales.

Moreover, issues regarding the misuse of OpenAI technology have also surfaced. The U.S. may use this incident as an opportunity to tighten regulations on technology disclosure and exports. On the 30th (local time), CNBC reported that OpenAI is "reviewing the possibility that DeepSeek ‘improperly’ used output data from its AI models to develop their own models." An OpenAI spokesperson told CNBC in an interview, "We are taking proactive measures to protect our technology," and added, "We will continue to work closely with the U.S. government to protect the most capable models being developed here."