Will Jensen Huang’s downfall dent China’s AI ambitions?

BEIJING – The abrupt resignation of Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has raised fresh questions about China’s access to advanced US artificial intelligence chips, with Beijing accusing Washington of using espionage allegations to justify tighter technology restrictions even as Chinese analysts play down the potential fallout.

Huang, who personally lobbied US President Donald Trump to ease restrictions on chip sales to China, was among the most vocal advocates for keeping US technology flowing to the world’s second-largest economy.

His departure now threatens to weaken that voice in Washington at a time when US lawmakers are pressing for stricter controls on China’s access to advanced computing power, potentially adding urgency to Beijing’s push for semiconductor self-sufficiency.

Chinese analysts said the consequences could cut both ways – further restrictions may constrain Chinese AI developers in the short term, while strengthening the push for domestic alternatives and creating opportunities for Chinese chipmakers such as Huawei.

Huang’s Nov 12 resignation followed revelations of extramarital affairs, including one involving a Chinese woman alleged by US officials to have links to Chinese intelligence. It marked the end of his 33-year tenure, during which he built Nvidia into the world’s leading supplier of the chips that power AI.

He had long argued that excluding China from US chip technology would be counterproductive and would deprive US companies of revenue while encouraging Chinese competitors to develop their own alternatives.

Since news of Huang’s involvement with an alleged Chinese spy broke, China’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly rejected the espionage allegations, calling them “purely unsubstantiated” and “smears” against China.

US officials have not provided evidence for their claims.

At a regular press briefing on Nov 12, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the US “should stop fabricating the Chinese spy narratives as a pretext for imposing technology blockades”, adding that China’s technological progress is driven by independent innovation and open cooperation.

Chinese state media outlet Global Times also criticised what it described as growing political interference in US technology companies, arguing that Huang’s departure reflected the increasing use of national security concerns to constrain commercial decisions involving China.

Wu Xinbo, director of Fudan University’s Centre for American Studies, played down the potential impact on China’s AI ambitions, saying China was already committed to developing its own semiconductor capabilities, regardless of whether Washington relaxed or tightened its restrictions.

He pointed to competing views within China over whether to continue buying US chips, which still offered performance advantages, or concentrate on developing domestic alternatives.

“If the US tightens its restrictions on chip exports, which seems likely, it would strengthen the latter camp and benefit Chinese chipmakers,” said Wu, who advises China’s Foreign Ministry.

“The message sent is that the US cannot be relied upon. It can tighten restrictions at any time, so we still have to depend on ourselves.”

More fundamentally, Wu said China and the US were increasingly competing on different fronts. The US is more focused on producing the most advanced AI models, chips and computing capabilities, while Beijing places greater emphasis on commercialising AI and integrating it into manufacturing, healthcare and everyday life.

Zhu Feng, dean of the School of International Studies at Nanjing University, told ST that greater determination to develop domestic alternatives would not immediately close the technological gap.

While tighter restrictions could accelerate investment in domestic alternatives, they would not immediately eliminate China’s dependence on foreign chips, he said. This is because China would not be able to match the capabilities of leading firms such as Nvidia, Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s SK Hynix in the short term, he added.

“Pressure on China will certainly increase in the short term, but in the medium to long term, much depends on whether China can keep its composure and achieve further technological breakthroughs of its own,” he said.

Since 2022, the US government has barred Nvidia from selling its most advanced chips to China. But in 2025, Trump allowed Nvidia to sell H20 chips to China on a case-by-case basis, and later extended permission to Nvidia’s H200 chips.

On Nov 13, shares of Chinese tech companies such as Alibaba, Tencent and Z.ai took a hit as Nvidia’s leadership crisis raised fears that Washington could further tighten restrictions on China’s access to advanced AI computing.

Although Washington restricts direct exports of Nvidia’s top AI chips to China, Chinese companies are still able to rent such advanced computing power from overseas data centres.

In a commentary published on Nov 13 after Huang’s resignation, Global Times warned that other technology executives could face similar scrutiny if their business interests conflicted with Washington’s political agenda.

It also argued that Huang’s Chinese heritage and his calls for continued chip exports had made him particularly vulnerable to political suspicion.

Nanjing University’s Zhu warned that the allegations could fuel a new wave of anti-Chinese sentiment in US political and business circles.

He said the controversy could accelerate efforts by some in Washington to sever technological ties with China, extending beyond chip export controls to broader restrictions on cooperation at a time when advances in AI require both competition and dialogue.

“Whether this will lead to a new Cold War in the field of AI remains to be seen,” he said.