Nvidia’s Jensen Huang softens his ‘China will win the AI race’ remark to FT

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly He told the Financial Times on Wednesday that “China will win the AI ​​race” but made a rather soft statement shortly afterwards.

Speaking on the sidelines of the FT’s Future of AI Summit, the prolific tech leader warned China will beat the US on AI thanks to lower energy costs and looser regulations.

The comments, which CNBC could not independently verify, represent Huang’s harshest warning that the United States risks losing its global leadership in advanced artificial intelligence technologies.

However, a few hours after the FT published its report, Nvidia released a separate statement from Jensen on its official X account.

“As I have long said, China is nanoseconds behind America in AI. It is vital that America wins by racing ahead and winning over world-class developers,” he added.

Huang has long stated that the United States can stay ahead in the AI ​​race if it keeps developers reliant on Nvidia’s leading AI chips; It’s an argument the CEO uses to lobby against export restrictions on his company’s sales to China.

Following talks with US President Donald Trump in July, Huang’s efforts appeared to pay off when Washington agreed to ease some chip restrictions.

Under the plan, Nvidia and rival AI chip company AMD agreed to pay the US government 15% of Chinese revenues from sales of existing AI processors designed specifically for the market.

But Beijing excluded Nvidia from the market as it conducted a national security review of its chips, and Huang said the firm’s market share dropped to zero.

It remains unclear whether China will allow the return of any of Nvidia’s chips as authorities push domestic tech companies towards domestic AI chip alternatives. But some experts suggest Beijing is using Nvidia’s market access as leverage in trade negotiations or pushing Washington into greater access to advanced semiconductors.

Huang was in South Korea last month when Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The highly anticipated trade talks between the two leaders did not lead either side to compromise on chip policy.

Accordingly Wall StreetJournalTrump had initially tried to negotiate Huang’s request to allow the sale of next-generation artificial intelligence chips to China. But senior officials spoke out against the idea, the Journal reported, citing current and former administration officials familiar with the matter.

Now that Nvidia’s access to China is frozen, Huang appears to be turning his attention to other issues he sees as important to Nvidia’s growth and the AI ​​race.

In an interview with the FT, Huang reportedly expressed concerns that the West, including the US, was being held back by “cynicism” and excessive regulations; This contrasted with China’s energy subsidies aimed at reducing costs for local developers. local chips.