Nvidia CEO Calls US AI Chip Export Ban to China a “Failure”

In a bold statement that could rattle U.S. policymakers, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang declared on Wednesday that U.S. export controls on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China have been a “failure.”

Speaking at the annual Computex tech conference in Taipei, Huang criticized the assumptions behind the AI export restrictions, stating: “The fundamental assumptions that led to the AI diffusion rule in the first place have been proven to be fundamentally flawed.”

The U.S. imposed restrictions on the sale of high-performance AI chips — such as Nvidia’s powerful A100 and H100 GPUs — to China in an effort to slow the country’s AI capabilities, particularly in military and surveillance applications. However, Huang argued the policy has backfired.

Since the restrictions, Chinese companies have increasingly turned to domestic semiconductor firms like Huawei, and Beijing has ramped up investment in building a self-reliant chip supply chain, effectively accelerating China’s independence in AI hardware.

Nvidia’s market share in China has tumbled from 95% to around 50% since the beginning of the Biden administration’s export bans, according to Huang.

His remarks came just days after China’s commerce ministry demanded that the U.S. “immediately correct its wrongdoings” and accused Washington of imposing “discriminatory” measures. China warned of “resolute measures” if the U.S. continues to harm its tech interests, following new U.S. guidance discouraging companies from using advanced Chinese AI chips, including Huawei’s Ascend series.

Nvidia’s public criticism highlights the unintended consequences of geopolitical tech wars. While Washington aimed to contain China’s AI ambitions, the restrictions have instead incentivized local innovation and resilience in China’s semiconductor sector.

A growing number of analysts now argue that export bans often act as a catalyst for domestic industries, much like earlier attempts to restrict Chinese access to 5G technology accelerated Huawei’s internal R&D programs.