Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is joining President Donald Trump on his China visit. According to reports, President Trump added Nvidia's Jensen Huang to the list of CEOs accompanying him to China at the 11th hour on Tuesday, May 12. Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing late on Wednesday local time for two days of meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It will be the first visit by a sitting US president in nearly a decade.
Why Nvidia CEO Was 'Avoiding' China Trip
Analysts see the Nvidia CEO's presence in the list of CEOs travelling with Trump as a political liability. And it seems Huang agrees. According to a report in Semafor, Huang, who's still in Trump's inner circle, had previously discussed with the president how the presence in Beijing of the world's largest chipmaker could invite unwanted scrutiny of the trip. Sitting out of the visit would have prevented the 'awkward conversations' that surround the highly contested sale of Nvidia chips to China. This had made the White House instead decide to invite executives from Nvidia competitors Micron and Qualcomm for the trip, along with Coherent and Illumina.
China's Displeasure with US Chip Restrictions
China has been unhappy with Trump's decision to not allow Nvidia to sell its most advanced AI chips to China. America has also been cracking down on Chinese and US companies smuggling banned Nvidia chips to China. The tension stems from the high-stakes battle for AI supremacy between the two nations.
Nvidia's Market Share in China Plummets
Nvidia has been stuck in the middle of this battle. Huang has always maintained that partnering with China is better for America than shutting them down. In April this year, Huang said that Nvidia used to have around 90% market share in China, and today it's at zero. 'We were effectively foreclosed from competing in China's data center computing market, and our effective foreclosure from the China market helped our competitors build larger developer and customer ecosystems to challenge us worldwide,' the company said in a recent filing. 'Unless we are able to return with a product that meets the approval of both the USG and the Chinese government, our lost opportunity and the benefit to our competitors will have a material and adverse impact on our business, operating results, and financial condition.'
Political Opposition at Home
The Nvidia CEO faces opposition not only from Trump but also from many in the Republican party who have made increasingly clear that they think a freer flow of tech between the US and China carries more risk than reward. A House committee recently advanced legislation that would give lawmakers 30 days to review and block the sale of key chips to countries including China and Iran.
An Nvidia spokesperson said in a statement: 'Jensen is attending the summit at the invitation of President Trump to support America and the administration's goals.' Reports suggest that the President 'called Jensen this morning after seeing reports that he wasn't joining the trip. He reportedly told him he wanted him to come. The Nvidia CEO flew to Alaska to join Trump mid-journey to China.'
