Nvidia CEO Bummed as China Hits Pause on AI Chip Purchases

Nvidia, a leading company in computer chip manufacturing, is facing new challenges after China reportedly ordered its top technology firms to stop buying Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, expressed his disappointment over this decision, saying that technology should be accessible to people everywhere, including China. He told BBC News that the progress of human society is not a zero-sum game, meaning that one country’s success does not have to come at the expense of another.

Huang is currently in the UK, joining other tech leaders and US President Donald Trump on a state visit. He commented that President Trump wants America to win, while President Xi Jinping wants China to win, but he believes both countries can succeed together. Huang is optimistic that ongoing conversations between the US and China will eventually lead to a solution. Nvidia had previously been banned from selling its most advanced chips to China, but that ban was reversed by Trump in July. However, the Financial Times reported that China’s Cyberspace Administration has now instructed tech companies to stop using Nvidia chips specifically made for the Chinese market. This news caused Nvidia’s shares to drop by more than 1 percent in premarket trading.

Huang said he would support the US as it tries to resolve these geopolitical issues and would share his views with President Trump if asked. The UK is hosting a major event attended by tech leaders, including Huang, as part of Trump’s visit. Trade talks between the US and China have been taking place in Europe this week, and China’s market regulator recently made an announcement about the situation, though details were not provided. Nvidia’s chips are central to the global AI boom, powering data centers worldwide. China, aiming to compete with the US in AI, has been developing its own chips. Major Chinese companies like DeepSeek, Tencent, and Alibaba had previously ordered Nvidia chips before the new restrictions. Nvidia is also investing in the UK, supplying chips to a new data center in north-east England in partnership with OpenAI, Arm, and NScale. Despite the tensions, Huang remains hopeful that cooperation and dialogue will help resolve the issues.