Nvidia (NVDA, Financial) CEO Jensen Huang appeared before U.S. lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Thursday to sound the alarm on Huawei's surging AI capabilities.
Huang warned that U.S. limits on Nvidia's chip exports to China risk leaving a void that Huawei could exploit. He told lawmakers that when “U.S. platforms are absent, companies will turn to competitors like Huawei to fill the gap,” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
He highlighted Huawei's push to build AI data centers overseas under China's Digital Silk Road initiative, saying those projects “do not align with U.S. norms or values.” Huawei's rapid gains in telecom and smartphones, he added, demonstrate the perils of ceding strategic markets.
Huang urged lawmakers to support greater investment in domestic chip manufacturing to maintain U.S. leadership, noting that proposed AI export rules set to take effect May 15 could force Nvidia to retreat from markets worldwide.
Nvidia also faces a potential $5.5 billion hit from new curbs on its H20 AI chip shipments to China. Meanwhile, Huawei plans to start mass shipments of its own advanced AI processors this month, setting the stage for intensified rivalry in the global AI chip arena.
