BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said Saturday that the company still sees enormous long-term potential in China’s artificial intelligence market despite escalating technology tensions between Washington and Beijing, underscoring the strategic importance of the Chinese market to Nvidia’s future growth plans.
Speaking to reporters after arriving in Taipei ahead of next month’s Computex technology exhibition, Huang indicated that his recently projected $200 billion market opportunity for central processing units, or CPUs, includes China.
When asked directly whether the estimate accounted for Chinese demand, Huang responded that he believed it did, signaling that Nvidia expects China to remain a major customer even as export controls and geopolitical friction continue to complicate the global semiconductor industry.
Huang’s comments come at a pivotal moment for Nvidia, which has become one of the world’s most valuable companies due to surging demand for artificial intelligence hardware. The company’s graphics processing units, or GPUs, have dominated the AI boom because of their ability to train large language models and power advanced computing systems.
However, Nvidia is now increasingly expanding into CPUs as the next phase of artificial intelligence development shifts toward so-called “agentic AI” systems capable of performing autonomous tasks and complex reasoning functions with less human supervision.
The growing importance of CPUs reflects broader changes in the AI industry as companies seek more integrated computing platforms capable of handling not only training workloads but also reasoning, memory management and autonomous operations.
During Nvidia’s earnings presentation earlier this week, Huang told investors that the company’s new “Vera” central processors open access to what he described as a $200 billion market opportunity. He also sought to reassure shareholders that Nvidia could sustain its extraordinary growth trajectory through an expanding customer base and a rapidly evolving lineup of AI products.
The company has projected more than $1 trillion in future sales tied to its flagship AI chip business, an estimate that has drawn intense attention across the technology and financial sectors.
China remains central to those ambitions despite increasing restrictions imposed by the United States government on exports of advanced semiconductor technology.
Nvidia has received approval from U.S. authorities to sell its H200 AI chips to China under certain licensing conditions, though Chinese regulatory approval has reportedly not yet been granted as Beijing continues pushing domestic companies to reduce reliance on foreign chipmakers and strengthen local semiconductor production.
The H200 is currently Nvidia’s second-most powerful AI chip approved for export to China under existing U.S. restrictions. Huang emphasized Saturday that the company would welcome the opportunity to serve the Chinese market more extensively, describing China as both extremely important and exceptionally large.
His remarks followed reports that Washington had recently approved licenses allowing around 10 Chinese firms to purchase H200 chips. However, no confirmed deliveries have yet taken place.
The issue of AI chip exports has become one of the most sensitive elements of the growing technology rivalry between the United States and China. Washington has imposed increasingly strict controls on advanced semiconductor exports, arguing that powerful AI chips could strengthen China’s military and technological capabilities.
Trump’s recent trip to Beijing for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping failed to produce an immediate breakthrough for Nvidia regarding broader H200 sales. Huang accompanied the U.S. delegation during the visit, highlighting the strategic importance of semiconductor policy within wider U.S.-China negotiations.
While in Taiwan, Huang is expected to meet executives from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and one of Nvidia’s most critical manufacturing partners. TSMC produces many of the advanced semiconductors driving the global AI boom and sits at the center of the international technology supply chain.
Huang said Nvidia is accelerating production of its new Vera Rubin computing platform, which combines the company’s Vera CPU architecture with its Rubin GPU technology. According to Huang, the production ramp-up is expected to create an extremely busy second half of the year for Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.
Taiwan has become increasingly important to the future of artificial intelligence infrastructure, with global technology firms investing billions of dollars into chip manufacturing, packaging and assembly operations on the island.
Earlier this week, rival chipmaker AMD announced plans to invest more than $10 billion into Taiwan’s AI sector as part of efforts to deepen partnerships and expand manufacturing capacity for advanced AI semiconductors.
Asked whether Nvidia was also investing heavily in Taiwan’s supply chain, Huang said the company had long supported local partners and contributed significantly to the island’s technology ecosystem, though he did not announce any new formal investment plans.
The visit also comes amid renewed scrutiny surrounding alleged smuggling of restricted AI hardware into China.
Taiwanese prosecutors said Thursday they were investigating three individuals suspected of illegally exporting advanced AI servers manufactured by Super Micro Computer and equipped with Nvidia chips subject to U.S. export controls.
Authorities are examining whether the shipments violated international trade laws designed to limit China’s access to cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology.
When questioned about what Nvidia could do to prevent the diversion of AI chips through third parties, Huang said the company maintains strict compliance standards and works closely with partners to ensure adherence to all applicable laws and regulations.
He added that companies purchasing Nvidia technology must ultimately manage their own compliance responsibilities and expressed hope that firms involved in recent investigations would strengthen their internal controls in the future.
The scrutiny follows criminal charges announced by the U.S. Justice Department in March against three individuals associated with Super Micro, including one of the company’s co-founders. Prosecutors accused them of helping smuggle at least $2.5 billion worth of American AI technology into China in violation of export regulations.
The investigations have intensified concerns within Washington over the effectiveness of current export restrictions as Chinese companies continue searching for ways to obtain advanced semiconductors essential for artificial intelligence development.
Despite mounting geopolitical tensions and tighter regulatory oversight, Huang’s remarks in Taipei made clear that Nvidia still views China as one of the most significant long-term opportunities in the rapidly expanding global AI economy.
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