Racing the Clock: NVIDIA’s Huang Warns Against Cutting China Off

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said Washington is making a mistake. He restricted chip sales to China. Huang appeared on a podcast and said that China is only “nanoseconds” behind the US in chip manufacturing. The CEO argues that such open trade strengthens American influence. In his opinion, companies such as NVIDIA spread American technology and shape global standards. But this happens when they are allowed to compete.

Huang described China as a country full of ambitious engineers. Everyone there works in extreme conditions and refers to the infamous “9-9-6” culture. That is, twelve-hour shifts six days a week. He said that the energy and skills of Chinese developers make them formidable competitors.

China Holds Its Ground

NVIDIA is trying to maintain its position in China. The company complies with US export regulations. It recently resumed sales of its H20 AI accelerator after regulatory authorities granted licenses. Development of the next version of the chip is already underway, which will comply with restrictions while offering greater power. This is the second attempt to adapt products for Chinese customers. Previously, there were bans on the A100 and H100 models.

Huang emphasized that presence in China is vital. He is currently keeping Chinese companies in the NVIDIA ecosystem. Even if the H20 is not the most powerful product.

Response from Beijing

China is moving fast to close the gap. Huawei has launched its Atlas 900 A3 SuperPoD systems powered by Ascend 910B chips, with a roadmap promising stronger processors by 2027. These systems bypass NVIDIA’s CUDA platform and run on Chinese-built software.

Tech giants such as Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance are pouring resources into local chip projects. Tencent even announced its infrastructure now runs entirely on domestic processors. Huang hopes the future brings an open market where global competition thrives, but for now NVIDIA must navigate a delicate rivalry.