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Jensen Huang, the chipmaker’s chief executive, is trying to balance his company’s interests as the United States and China compete for supremacy in artificial intelligence.
July 16, 2025Updated 2:12 p.m. ET
Nvidia is celebrating its renewed ability to sell certain artificial intelligence computer chips in China, after the Trump administration this week lifted key restrictions.
But Jensen Huang isn’t about to take any credit for the change.
Mr. Huang, the chief executive of the Silicon Valley chip giant, used a 95-minute press briefing on Wednesday in Beijing to play down his role in persuading President Trump to allow chip sales to China. He distanced himself, too, from China’s latest export controls, suggesting even the restrictions on a rare earth metal used in chips wouldn’t affect the company.
Mr. Huang has met with senior officials in Washington and Beijing in the past few days, including Mr. Trump, to promote artificial intelligence and his company’s central role in the industry. Many of the world’s most advanced A.I. systems are powered by calculations done on Nvidia’s chips. Last week, the company became the first public firm to reach $4 trillion in market value.
“I don’t think I changed his mind,” Mr. Huang said of Mr. Trump. “It’s my job to inform the president about what I know very well, which is the technology industry, artificial intelligence, the developments of A.I. around the world.”
Mr. Huang’s apparent modesty underscores the balancing act he must play between the world’s two largest economies as they compete for primacy over artificial intelligence. Three presidential administrations in Washington have tried to hold back China’s A.I. capabilities by cutting off the flow of advanced chips, including by restricting Nvidia’s sales to Chinese companies.
At the same time, Beijing has emphasized self-reliance in the A.I. industry, as it has for electric vehicles and solar panels. Government ministries have pushed Chinese companies to make everything they need for A.I. on their own. With Beijing’s backing, Chinese companies like the telecommunications giant Huawei have been racing to develop alternatives to Nvidia’s technology.
