Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says US controls on AI chips exports to China were ‘a failure’, praises Donald Trump's approach

The United State government's export controls on artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China were “a failure”, according to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Reuters reported on May 21. He was speaking at the annual Computex event in Taipei, Taiwan's top tech show.

"The local companies are very, very talented and very determined, and the export control gave them the spirit, the energy and the government support to accelerate their development. I think, all in all, the export control was a failure," Huang told reporters at Computex. 

Huang added that companies would use the “second best” option if they couldn't get Nvidia's chips, AFP reported. 

He further said that his company's market share in China dropped from 95 per cent at the start of US President Joe Biden's administration to 50 per cent now under the Donald Trump government.

Nvidia's Jensen Huang Praises Donald Trump Scrapping Some AI Export Curbs

Huang's statement seemed levelled at the former Joe Biden administration as he then went on to praise Donald Trump for scrapping some of the AI chips export curbs, according to another Reuters report.

The Trump administration has said it will modify Biden government's “AI diffusion rule” which imposed curbs on export of AI chips based on three tiers for countries, and completedly excluded China.

“All in all, the export control was a failure. The fundamental assumptions that led to the AI diffusion rule in the beginning, in the first place, have been proven to be fundamentally flawed,” Huang said.

On Donald Trump's approach, Huang said, “President Trump realises it's exactly the wrong goal.”

Why Jensen Huang's Statement Matters…

On May 19, China's commerce ministry in a strong statement asked the US to “immediately correct its wrongdoings” and stop “discriminatory” measures.

This was in reaction to the US Commerce Department guidance warning on May 14 to US companies, reminding them not to use advanced computer chips from China, including Huawei's Ascend AI chips. “The US action seriously undermined consensus reached at the high-level bilateral trade talks in Geneva,” the statement said.

It further promised “resolute measures” if the US continues to “substantially” harm China's interests.

(With inputs from Reuters, AFP)