“China is going to win the AI race” — NVIDIA CEO makes his boldest claim yet before backtracking hours later

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Right now, two countries are leading the way in artificial intelligence, and it’s unclear which one will win in the end.

I’m referring to the United States and China, whose leaders and business professionals have frequently disagreed since the rapid growth of artificial intelligence began a few years ago.

NVIDIA, currently the world’s most valuable company after recently exceeding a $5 trillion market value, is finding itself caught in escalating tensions between countries. Recent indications suggest its leadership may be favoring a positive outcome for China.

During the Financial Times’ AI Summit, NVIDIA’s CEO, Jensen Huang, stated in an interview with the Financial Times that he believes China will ultimately lead in the development of artificial intelligence.

According to the Financial Times, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made these remarks during the AI summit, stating that a lack of optimism—or cynicism—in Western nations is proving detrimental, and that a more positive outlook is needed.

As I’ve been following the AI landscape, it’s striking how differently the US and China are approaching regulation and infrastructure. In the US, we could see a patchwork of fifty different AI regulations as each state implements its own rules. Meanwhile, China is fueling AI development through energy subsidies, allowing companies to utilize domestically-produced chips – including those from Huawei – even if they aren’t as energy efficient as options like NVIDIA’s. This difference in approach could significantly impact the competitive landscape.

Early in 2025, the release of DeepSeek intensified concerns that China is rapidly closing the gap with the US in artificial intelligence. DeepSeek demonstrated performance exceeding that of OpenAI’s o1 model, but at a significantly lower cost – roughly 3% of what it cost to run o1.

This is one of the most open and honest statements NVIDIA’s CEO has made, especially considering they usually avoid taking sides in issues between the US and China.

Did Jensen Huang make an overly critical remark? Evidence from within NVIDIA points to that possibility. Shortly after the Financial Times published its report, NVIDIA released a clarifying statement on X (formerly Twitter) to address Huang’s comments.

This clarifying statement, of course, sounds a lot different than what was said at the AI summit.

I recall Huang saying before that China is incredibly close to the US in artificial intelligence – practically neck and neck. He suggested this is due to a few key things: how people work there, the quality of science and tech education, a strong push for new ideas, and, crucially, a lack of strict rules that allows for faster development.

NVIDIA’s recent post on X emphasized that the U.S. needs to lead in AI by attracting developers globally – a strategy that also helps NVIDIA, as they aim to sell their powerful AI GPUs to those who can afford them.

Huang’s plan is to ensure that companies creating AI outside the US still need American-made computer chips. This strategy has seen some success, but it’s been challenging due to the strained relationship between the US and China.

The AI race is taking place on a long road full of pitfalls

In July 2025, NVIDIA announced on its blog that Huang had come to an agreement with the Trump administration to resume selling less powerful AI GPUs to China.

Everyone believed the deal was finalized, but we were surprised in August by a new development. To get permission to sell advanced AI GPUs to China, both NVIDIA and AMD agreed to give the US government 15% of the profits from those sales.

In September, China retaliated by preventing leading tech firms like Alibaba and ByteDance from utilizing NVIDIA’s RTX Pro 6000D AI GPU—a less powerful chip created specifically for use within China.

Last month, President Trump and President Xi Jinping met in South Korea, raising expectations that NVIDIA might be able to resume selling its products in China following trade discussions.

Despite the discussions, no progress was made, and NVIDIA still faces significant barriers to entering the Chinese market.

FAQ

How does a country “win” the AI race?

I’ve noticed a lot of discussion about “winning” the competition in artificial intelligence. When it comes to the United States, it seems a key goal is to ensure that countries around the world continue to rely on American companies for the computer hardware needed to power AI.

Looking at it another way, ‘winning’ the competition in artificial intelligence could mean being the first company to create true AGI – AI that thinks and learns like a human being.

Is NVIDIA the most valuable company in the world?

Currently, NVIDIA is the most valuable company in the world. As of today, it’s worth around $4.619 trillion, although its value recently peaked at over $5 trillion.

Apple sits in second place, with Microsoft a distant third with a $3.7 trillion valuation.

Is NVIDIA allowed to sell its AI GPUs to China?

Reuters reports that China is prohibiting new, government-funded data centers from using AI chips made by foreign companies. Data centers that are less than 30% built will have to replace any foreign chips they’ve already installed.

The White House has stated it doesn’t want NVIDIA to sell its newest, most powerful Blackwell chips to China. However, NVIDIA is still permitted to sell older chip versions specifically designed for the Chinese market.

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2025-11-07 01:40