Nvidia is not giving up on China, CEO Jensen Huang makes surprise trip to China; says 'Hope to ...'

Nvidia is not willing to give up on China. According to a report in Financial Times, Nvidia chief executive officer (CEO) Jensen Huang visited Beijing this week to meet clients and Chinese officials. Huang's visit comes after new US export restrictions on the chipmaker’s H20 chip that triggered a $5.5bn earnings hit for Nvidia. H20 chip is a lower-powered model that is reportedly designed to comply with former export controls to China announced by the Joe Biden administration.
Huang is said to have met with DeepSeek’s founder Liang Wenfeng to discuss designing next-generation chips compliant with US and Chinese regulations, according to two people familiar with his travel schedule. In January, DeepSeek’s cost-efficient AI model shook US tech stocks, highlighting its competitive edge. Nvidia CEO also held talks with Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng. “We hope to continue to cooperate with China,” Huang said, as per Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

The visit, finalized after US President Donald Trump’s unexpected ban on the H20 chip, underscores Nvidia’s determination to maintain its $17bn Chinese market despite Washington’s escalating trade restrictions. Huang’s discussions indicate that Nvidia may design another chip for China, even after previous efforts were blocked by US controls. China, facing pressure to decouple from the US amid 245% reciprocal tariffs, has pushed its tech firms to adopt Huawei’s Ascend AI chip, though it struggles with model training, leaving companies reliant on Nvidia.
Huang’s trip, which followed a State Council-approved meeting request, comes amid regulatory scrutiny. China’s antitrust regulator is probing Nvidia’s compliance with commitments tied to its acquisition of an Israeli networking company, while US lawmakers question whether DeepSeek accessed export-controlled chips. Nvidia declined to comment on the trip, per the Financial Times.

Huang’s trip to Beijing may further stoke concern in the US government, where lawmakers have already expressed fears that Nvidia’s advanced chips have helped DeepSeek and other Chinese companies catch up to the US in the AI race. “We regularly meet with government leaders to discuss our company’s products and technology,” an Nvidia spokesperson reportedly said. In response to the probe, the company has said it is following the US government’s directions “to the letter.”