"If the U.S. Stays Out, Huawei's Influence Will Expand," Warns Jensen Huang
Nvidia CEO Urges Caution on AI Chip Export Restrictions to China
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, expressed concerns that the United States could lose its leadership if it continues to restrict exports of artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors to China, stating that "American technology is a generation ahead of China."
On June 12 (local time), during an interview with CNBC at the Viva Technology Conference held in Paris, France, CEO Huang made these remarks.
CEO Huang stated, "If the United States does not want to be involved with China or Huawei, then Huawei can take responsibility for China, and all the other countries can also be taken care of." He implied that while the United States bans exports of AI chips to China, Huawei could grow using China, the world's second-largest economy, as a springboard and expand its influence to other countries as well.
He emphasized, "If you want the American technology stack to win globally, it is unwise to give up 50% of the world's AI researchers," adding, "As long as all the AI developers are in China, I think the China-based stack will win." He continued, "We must keep in mind that short-term measures can lead to unintended consequences in the long run."
This appears to be a response to the June 10 interview of Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO of Huawei, with the People's Daily. In the interview, CEO Ren commented on the U.S. export controls on Huawei's AI chip Ascend, saying, "The United States is exaggerating Huawei's achievements. Huawei is not yet at such a remarkable level," and added, "A single chip is still a generation behind the United States."
Nvidia has previously sold the H20 chip, a version of its latest AI chip with reduced performance, to China in order to circumvent U.S. semiconductor export restrictions. However, the Donald Trump administration recently blocked even these exports, citing national security and other concerns.
Last month, in an interview with Bloomberg TV, CEO Huang warned that if American-made AI chips cannot be exported to China, Chinese companies will fill the gap left by American companies. He also said, "American leadership is at risk," and pointed out, "U.S. policy is based on the assumption that China cannot develop AI on its own, but this assumption is clearly wrong." Regarding Huawei, he remarked, "Perhaps (chip performance) is similar to H200," and evaluated, "Huawei is quite powerful."
Nvidia has previously projected that the chip export restrictions would reduce its revenue by $8 billion for this quarter (May to July).
However, CEO Huang expressed confidence in President Donald Trump. He said that it is his mission to inform the Trump administration about the essence of Nvidia's technology and the industry's dynamics, stating, "President Trump knows exactly what he is doing and has a clear strategy."
He also expressed optimism about the European market, saying, "France has the potential to export AI along with energy exports," and "All the pieces of the puzzle are there. We must make good use of this opportunity."
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