Nvidia CEO Downplays Influence in Lifting China Chip Ban, Eyes AI and Robotics Growth

The CEO of Nvidia has downplayed his role in persuading the U.S. government to lift a ban on selling an advanced computer chip to China, emphasizing that it will take time to ramp up production once orders for the AI processor come in. Speaking in Beijing, CEO Jensen Huang expressed optimism about the prospects for the H20 chip, which was designed to meet U.S. restrictions on technology exports to China but was blocked in April. Huang met with U.S. President Donald Trump before his trip, and his company recently announced it had received assurances that sales to China would be approved.

Huang clarified that he doesn’t believe he changed Trump’s mind and described his role as informing governments about the nature and unintended consequences of their policies. He stressed that the decision to lift the ban on the H20 chip was entirely in the hands of the American and Chinese governments and their trade talks. “We can only influence them, inform them, do our best to provide them with facts. And then beyond that is out of our control,” Huang said.

Nvidia previously stated that sales restrictions on its chip in China, imposed on national security grounds, would cost the company $5.5 billion. The White House also blocked a chip from Advanced Micro Devices. Both companies report that the Commerce Department is now processing license applications to export these chips to China. Huang indicated that his company would likely recover some of its losses, though the extent remains uncertain and depends on the number of H20 orders received and Nvidia’s ability to meet demand.

Huang expressed confidence in the H20 chip’s success, highlighting its memory bandwidth as a good fit for the AI models being developed by Chinese companies such as DeepSeek and Alibaba. He also announced the release of a new RTX Pro graphics chip, which he said would power the development of humanoid robots. Huang envisions robotic systems with teams of robots working alongside people as the next wave in AI, noting the vast supply chain and smart factory work in China make the RTX Pro ideal for these innovations.