Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said overnight that U.S. chip export controls are a “failure” and warned that the restrictions are doing more damage to American business than to China.
Huang said in a news conference at Computex, an artificial intelligence trade show in Taiwan, that the policies have cut the AI chip leader’s China market share from 95% to 50% and motivated Beijing to make its own chips faster.
Huang’s comments came as the truce between the U.S. and China over tariffs and semiconductors continues to be delicate.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry responded to the Trump administration’s recent chip policy change on Monday, calling the U.S. policy “overreaching” and “bullying,” and demanding the White House “correct its mistakes.”
“The U.S. abuses export control measures, imposing unjustified restrictions on Chinese chip products and even interfering with Chinese companies’ use of domestically produced chips within China,” the ministry said.
The White House scrapped the tiered “AI Diffusion Rule” rolled out by former President Joe Biden in January and promised to fully replace it in the future.
Nvidia is stuck in the middle, with Huang maintaining relationships with both sides in a deepening tech cold war.
In Saudi Arabia last week, President Donald Trump called Huang a “friend” and touted Nvidia’s massive AI investment.
Huang accompanied Trump on the Middle East trip, a prominent representative of the U.S.’ global technology power. But Huang has also kept close ties to China and praised the country’s tech capabilities.
Nvidia is acquiring a new space for its employees in Shanghai, though the company said it is not sending any intellectual property or graphics processing unit designs there.
Huang told lawmakers in Washington in April that China is quickly gaining ground on the U.S. in AI.
“China is right behind us,” Huang said. “We are very close. Remember this is a long-term, infinite race.”
He also singled out the capabilities of Huawei, which is reportedly developing its own advanced chip to rival Nvidia.
“They’re incredible in computing and network technology, all these essential capabilities to advance AI,” Huang said. “They have made enormous progress in the last several years.”
Even with the U.S. and China relationship on rocky footing, Huang told senior Chinese officials in April that his company would “unswervingly serve the Chinese market.”
Nvidia’s balancing game continues, reshaping chips to stay compliant and straddling commercial and political fault lines.
Huang’s warning is clear: if the U.S. doesn’t rethink its approach, it could lose the Chinese market and its edge in the global AI race.
