Nvidia CEO gives China clean chit amid AI tech abuse concerns as Trump eases chip pressure on Beijing

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has downplayed US concerns that the tech giant’s chips could support the Chinese military and effectively gave Beijing a clean chit, just days before another trip to China as he tries to navigate the delicate balance between Washington and Beijing.

In an interview with CNN aired Sunday, Huang said “we don’t have to worry about” China’s military using U.S.-made technology because “they simply can’t rely on it.”

“It could be limited at any time; not to mention, there’s plenty of computing capacity in China already,” Huang said. “They don’t need Nvidia’s chips, certainly, or American tech stacks in order to build their military,” he added.

The comments were made in reference to years of bipartisan US policy that placed restrictions on semiconductor companies, prohibiting them from selling their most advanced artificial intelligence chips to clients in China.

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Huang also repeated past criticisms of the policies, arguing that the tactic of export controls has been counterproductive to the ultimate goal of US tech leadership.

“We want the American tech stack to be the global standard … in order for us to do that, we have to be in search of all the AI developers in the world,” Huang said, adding that half of the world’s AI developers are in China.

Huang said that for the US to stay ahead in AI, American technology must be available in all markets, including China.

In April, Washington introduced new restrictions on Nvidia’s sales to China, which could cost the company billions. In May, Huang said these rules had already cut Nvidia’s market share in China nearly in half.

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Huang’s interview with CNN comes just before he makes his second trip to China this year. Meanwhile, Nvidia is reportedly developing a new chip designed to comply with the latest export rules.

Last week, Huang met with US President Donald Trump. lawmakers have warned him not to meet with Chinese companies linked to the military, intelligence services, or those on America’s export blacklist.

A US official told Reuters last month that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which trained its models using Nvidia chips, is helping China’s military and intelligence work.

Huang admitted there are concerns about DeepSeek’s open-source R1 reasoning model being developed in China but said there’s no proof it’s dangerous just because of that.