Jensen Huang says China will win the AI race against the United States

Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, has said that China will win the AI race. The striking claim comes at a time of exceptionally high tensions between China and the United States over the technology.

Should the prospect of China achieving outright dominance in artificial intelligence be a concern? For Nvidia’s charismatic chief, the answer is yes. Speaking at London’s Future of AI Summit, Jensen Huang shared his view that the contest is likely to go against the West:

“China is going to win the AI race,” he told the event.

He then expanded on that position in a statement published in Nvidia’s Newsroom:

“As I have said all along, China is only a few nanoseconds behind the United States in AI. It is vital that the United States wins this race by attracting developers from around the world.”

Jensen Huang calls for Nvidia to return to China

Does this eye-catching statement mean that Nvidia’s boss has accepted defeat? Not at all. Instead, it must be seen in the specific context of the ongoing US-China dispute. The US administration has prevented Blackwell chips - Nvidia’s latest generation - from being sold in China. The White House’s objective is to slow its rival’s progress in generative artificial intelligence, an area in which this type of processor is essential.

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US restrictions could spur Chinese chip development

According to Jensen Huang, however, the embargo is pushing China to create its own chips. That is the central issue: should a competitor be allowed to operate independently when it could instead be supplied and, in that way, kept under control? At a conference in Washington last month, Huang argued that the restrictions should be lifted in the interests of the United States.

“We want America to win the AI race. We want the world to be built on American technology. But we also want to attract Chinese developers. This policy results in the loss of half of the world’s AI developers, and that is not beneficial in the long run; it harms us.”

Donald Trump wants Blackwell chips kept in the United States

This message of openness - and perhaps conciliation - naturally serves Nvidia’s interests. Even so, it is far from certain that Donald Trump will be receptive. In an interview with CBS’s hugely popular 60 Minutes programme on 2 November, the US president said Blackwell chips should be banned not only in China, but everywhere else as well:

“They are [Blackwell chips] the most advanced, and we will not let anyone have them outside the United States. We will not give them to others.”

This is not the first time Jensen Huang has clashed with the US president. Although he supported Trump in the past, he has not held back from criticising his decisions. More recently, Huang said he would continue covering the costs of his immigrant employees despite the taxes imposed by the White House.