Right After US AI Chip Export Controls... Jensen Huang to Visit China and Taiwan

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, which leads the company, is set to visit China and Taiwan consecutively right after the announcement of the U.S. export controls on artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors.

According to Bloomberg on the 14th, CEO Huang is scheduled to visit Shenzhen, China around the 15th to hold the annual Lunar New Year event with Nvidia's local employees. Following this, CEO Huang will visit Shanghai and Beijing in China. His itinerary then includes arriving in Taipei, Taiwan around the weekend.

CEO Huang's visit to China draws attention as it comes immediately after the Biden administration in the U.S. announced new export controls related to AI semiconductors. The export controls revealed by the White House the previous day go a step further than the existing restrictions blocking AI chips directly sent to China by setting import limits on AI semiconductors for countries that are neither allies nor concern countries, aiming to block detours through third countries.

The report stated, "CEO Huang is visiting China at a sensitive time caught in the broad U.S.-China technological hegemony conflict," and added, "Nvidia criticized the export controls announced by the White House, warning that they would also weaken U.S. competitiveness." It is estimated that China accounts for about 17% of Nvidia's sales, while countries outside the U.S. make up 56%.

In particular, Nvidia is currently under investigation in China for alleged violations of antitrust laws. China views that Nvidia partially violated the limited conditions imposed by authorities during its 2020 acquisition of the Israeli semiconductor design company Mellanox. Accordingly, investigations are underway regarding whether Nvidia forced exclusive contracts on customers and whether there were disadvantages when using competitors' products.

It remains uncertain whether CEO Huang will meet with Chinese officials during this visit. There is also a possibility that the visit schedule could change at the last minute. Bloomberg noted that, similar to Qualcomm's past case, foreign companies facing antitrust investigations in China typically send high-level executives locally to expand contact with authorities. The outlet also added that although CEO Huang visited several Chinese cities last year to meet Nvidia employees, he avoided public talks with officials at that time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.