Nvidia CEO Slams U.S. Chip Rules at Computex, Laments China Market Loss

TaiwanPlus News

At a closed-door press event during Computex Taipei, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang criticized U.S. export controls and diffusion rules on AI chips, saying the restrictions have cost Nvidia billions of U.S. dollars and harmed U.S. competitiveness. He praised China as a key AI market, citing its talent pool and economic potential, and warned of losing ground to rivals like Huawei. Huang also emphasized the need for energy investments, including nuclear, a very controversial topic in Taiwan. He also confirmed but downplayed that Nvidia is expanding its R&D center in Shanghai.

Transcript

00:00There's one undeniable star at this year's Computex, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. And he

00:05had a lot to say about China and U.S. export controls at a Q&A on the sidelines of the

00:11show here in Taipei. Now, while audio and video recording was not allowed inside during

00:16the press conference, he did address reporters outside the venue, and he was asked about

00:20his opinion on U.S. tariffs.

00:22What's your opinion?

00:24I don't have an opinion on that. I think there's a resetting of the trade around

00:35the world. And whenever it settles down, the industry will readjust. And so I have every

00:43confidence things will work out.

00:45He did have a lot of opinions about U.S. export controls and AI rules, however. On AI rules

00:51limiting the export of U.S. chips to many countries that were recently paused by U.S. President

00:55Donald Trump, he was very definitive. He says the policy was wrong. He says AI's spread

01:00around the world should be maximized, not minimized. And he thanked the U.S. president for pausing

01:05the rules, saying that Trump knows the race is on and that the U.S. should win it. On export

01:10controls, which Trump has continued to enforce, he was also critical, but did not criticize

01:14the president directly. He says the rules caused NVIDIA to lose billions of U.S. dollars.

01:20And he was very adamant that China was an important market. He says 50 percent of AI researchers

01:24come from China, and that the AI market is worth 50 billion dollars. And it would be a

01:29shame to lose those dollars to companies like Huawei, which he called one of the most formidable

01:34in the world.

01:35And when asked about a previously unconfirmed Shanghai R&D center, he downplayed it, saying

01:39that they are just leasing a bigger building there. And that's similar to what he had to

01:43say about NVIDIA's newly announced expanded Taipei office known as Constellation. When asked

01:49if the new office sent a message to the world about Taiwan, he joked that he just needed

01:53more chairs. But he did say that stability in the region was important.

01:57Huang also said, the AI industry needs government support to build more energy infrastructure

02:02of all kinds, including nuclear. He did not name Taiwan specifically, but nuclear power

02:07is highly divisive here, with the country's last reactor being decommissioned just last week.

02:13So as NVIDIA continues to promote the expansion of AI infrastructure across the world, it's

02:17clear that Mr. Huang wants to leave everywhere open for business.

02:21John Su, Klein Wang and Chris Gorin in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.

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