Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has warned that China will defeat the United States in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.
The FT reported that Huang, at the Future of AI Summit hosted by the Financial Times (FT) that day, said: ” Western countries, including the US and the UK, are stuck in cynicism. We need more optimism .” Citing new AI regulations being developed in the US, Huang warned: ” There could be 50 new regulations (in all 50 states) .”
He argued that this regulatory environment is undermining Western competitiveness . His comments came after the Donald Trump administration maintained restrictions on the export of Nvidia’s latest AI semiconductors to China.
Huang added: “ Electricity is (practically) free in China,” and that China is creating an environment where local companies can use domestically produced AI chips as a much cheaper alternative to Nvidia’s AI chips, expanding energy subsidies for tech companies.
It’s well known that Chinese AI chips are significantly less energy efficient than Nvidia chips. However, Chinese government energy subsidies have helped partially offset this shortcoming . Indeed, China has reportedly recently increased energy subsidies for major tech companies such as ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent .
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 3rd that NVIDIA’s CEO, close to President Trump, tried to convince President Trump to allow the export of Nvidia’s latest artificial intelligence semiconductor, “Blackwell,” to China shortly before the US-China summit on the 30th of last month, but his aides blocked his request.
Huang emphasized the importance of the Chinese market, stating, ” About half of the world’s AI researchers are in China .” He also argued that exports to China must be allowed to ensure that China’s AI business ecosystem continues to rely on Nvidia semiconductors.
Some speculate that the Trump administration may limit the use of cutting-edge AI semiconductors, such as Blackwell, to internal use only.
Some key Trump administration officials are reportedly concerned that Blackwell’s exports to China could strengthen China’s artificial intelligence capabilities and weaken US security. In a CBS interview aired on the 2nd, when asked whether he would allow Nvidia to sell cutting-edge semiconductors to China, President Trump replied: ” No, we won’t. We won’t. We won’t allow anyone else to have cutting-edge semiconductors .”
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