Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made waves on Wednesday when he told the Financial Times that “China is going to win the AI race.” Hours later, he walked back the statement.
The comments came during the FT’s Future of AI Summit. Huang warned that China would beat the U.S. in artificial intelligence thanks to lower energy costs and looser regulations.
Several hours after the FT published its report, Nvidia issued a separate statement from Huang on X. “As I have long said, China is nanoseconds behind America in AI,” he wrote.
“It’s vital that America wins by racing ahead and winning developers worldwide,” Huang added in the clarification.
The original comments would have represented Huang’s starkest warning yet about America’s position in AI. The quick reversal suggests the CEO realized the impact of his words.
Huang has consistently argued that the U.S. can stay ahead if developers worldwide rely on Nvidia’s chips. He’s used this argument to lobby against export restrictions on sales to China.
“We want America to win this AI race. No doubt about that,” Huang said at a developers’ conference in Washington last month.
He also said America needs access to China’s developer base. “A policy that causes America to lose half of the world’s AI developers is not beneficial in the long term, it hurts us more,” he stated.
Beijing has shut Nvidia out of the Chinese market while conducting a national security review of its chips. Huang previously stated the company’s market share in China has dropped to zero.
The closure remains a problem for Nvidia’s growth prospects. China represents a massive market for AI chips.
It’s unclear whether China will allow Nvidia’s chips to return. Officials are pushing domestic tech companies toward Chinese AI chip alternatives.
Some experts think Beijing is using Nvidia’s market access as leverage in trade negotiations. Others believe China wants Washington to grant wider access to advanced semiconductors.
Following meetings with President Donald Trump in July, it appeared Huang’s lobbying had worked. Washington agreed to ease some chip restrictions.
Under that plan, Nvidia and AMD agreed to pay the U.S. government 15% of their Chinese revenues from sales of existing AI processors. But Beijing’s subsequent national security review stopped those sales anyway.
In his FT interview, Huang expressed concerns about Western regulations. He contrasted what he called excessive Western regulation with China’s pro-industry approach.
China provides energy subsidies aimed at lowering costs for local developers using domestic chips. Huang described the West as being held back by “cynicism” and too many rules.
President Trump said in a Sunday interview that Nvidia’s most advanced Blackwell chips should be reserved exclusively for American customers. He added that Washington would allow China to engage with Nvidia, but “not in terms of the most advanced” semiconductors.
Huang was in South Korea last month during Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trade talks between the two leaders did not yield any concessions on chip policy.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump initially sought to discuss a request by Huang to allow sales of a new generation of AI chips to China. Top officials rallied against the idea, the Journal reported.
Nvidia has not applied for U.S. export licenses to sell the chips in China. Huang cited Beijing’s stance toward the company as the reason.
With China access frozen, Huang appears to be shifting focus to other growth concerns. His comments about energy costs and regulations suggest he’s looking at structural issues beyond trade policy.
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