"China is going to win the AI race" - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang makes bold proclamation, says we all need a little less "cynicism" in our lives

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang giving a speech
(Image credit: Shutterstock.com) (Image credit: Nvidia)

  • Jensen Huang argues China’s rapid AI growth challenges long-held assumptions about American dominance
  • Restrictive chip policies risk weakening America’s influence over global AI development
  • China’s vast developer ecosystem continues advancing despite limited access to top hardware

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has raised eyebrows by declaring, "China is going to win the AI race," as it is only nanoseconds behind the United States in artificial intelligence development.

Adding that society could benefit from a bit less "cynicism," Huang said he believes the US must maintain its competitive edge and engage China’s massive developer base, because excluding them could create long-term consequences for global AI adoption.

"It's vital that America wins by racing ahead and winning developers worldwide," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on X.

America v China AI race

Nvidia has faced restrictions in China due to governmental policies, preventing the sale of its latest processors, central to AI tools and applications, which are essential for research, deployment, and scaling of AI workloads.

Huang suggested limiting Chinese access may inadvertently slow the spread of American technology, even as policymakers focus on national security.

Hardware remains central to AI supremacy, as CPU performance and specialized accelerators give data centers the capacity to process the vast information required to train large AI models.

Huang pointed out maintaining a leading position in AI requires not only advanced chips but also widespread adoption of tools built on American technology.

Data centers equipped with these processors underpin global experimentation, and exclusion from China risks creating parallel systems outside US influence.

Government policy decisions regarding chip exports are also central to this debate, with President Trump having said Nvidia’s most advanced Blackwell chips should be reserved for American users, with China having limited interactions.

Huang warned that overly restrictive policies could hinder US influence, as Chinese developers continue to innovate within their own ecosystem.

The United States continues to hold technological leadership, but China’s rapidly growing developer base and increasing AI capabilities make the global race highly competitive.

"We want America to win this AI race. No doubt about that," Huang said at a recent Nvidia developers' conference.

"We want the world to be built on American tech stack. Absolutely the case. But we also need to be in China to win their developers. A policy that causes America to lose half of the world's AI developers is not beneficial in the long term, it hurts us more," he added.

Via Financial Times


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Efosa Udinmwen
Freelance Journalist

Efosa has been writing about technology for over 7 years, initially driven by curiosity but now fueled by a strong passion for the field. He holds both a Master's and a PhD in sciences, which provided him with a solid foundation in analytical thinking.

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