The CEO of multinational technology company Nvidia, Jensen Huang, has made a candid revelation of his growing unease concerning rival firm Huawei. Acknowledging Huawei’s worldwide tech dominance, bolstered by historical tactical use of political benefits to capture market share, Huang has expressed his worry about the potential for Huawei to leverage the ongoing trade conflicts to solidify China’s status as a major power center for technology.
Huang’s remarks came during a public session in Washington, D.C., where he voiced his apprehension regarding China’s rapid advancement in the tech sector, and the potential implications on the global scale amidst trade disputes. Calling attention to Huawei’s aptitude in computer and network technology, he unveiled his admiration for their stride in shaping the future of AI, acknowledging their impressive progression in the recent past.
These are decisive times for both Nvidia and Huawei, as they contest on the battleground of the most rapidly developing tech market: artificial intelligence. With the backdrop of escalating global trade tensions, this battle is fraught with added pressure and uncertainty.
Earlier this week, Huawei was reported to be engaging in testing its latest Ascend 910D chip, a direct competitor to Nvidia’s mid-ranking H100 and H200 chips. The Chinese tech company aims to roll out chip samples in the upcoming weeks.
The surge in tariffs, export controls, and the accusatory tone of the trade wars have propelled China to amass momentum in expanding its tech industry, partnering with countries that are growing distant from the United States. For individuals involved in the networking industry, Huawei’s recent victories might echo their ascension to the forefront of networking technology in the early years of this century.
Back then, Huawei managed to capture colossal market share globally, with a strong foothold especially in budding economies before the United States and several European nations prohibited the use of Huawei’s products on the grounds of security. Now, with AI’s escalating privacy and data security implications, the stakes have heightened considerably.
Possessing a substantial $25 billion budget for research and development, a legion of proficient engineers, and the patronage of the Chinese government, Huawei wields substantial market power. Its influence stands pronounced amidst the disruption caused by the tech industry owing to the aggressive trade war waged by the U.S. administration against China.
Alongside a composite 145% tariff on imports from China, export curbs on AI chips weigh heavily in this conflict. On April 9, Nvidia was notified that specific export licenses would be required for their H20 chip bound for China. This chip, bringing billions of dollars in yearly revenue for Nvidia, was meticulously crafted for the Chinese market.
Such export restraints are evidently affecting Nvidia’s projected revenue from H20 products, causing the undertaking of charges in the region of $5 billion for inventory and associated reserves. The added export curbs from the U.S. on AI chips to China are not only guiding the Chinese market toward local providers like Huawei, but they may also inadvertently nudge other countries to consider Chinese technology.
Overall, the comments made by Huang indicate a rising concern within Nvidia about the fallout of the trade war on its operations. This anxiety is mirrored within the stock market, with Nvidia’s shares experiencing a 24% drop over the last six months.
A critical juncture arrived with the launch of new AI models by Chinese entity DeepSeek in January, indicative of the diminishing costs of AI tech and China’s progressive challenges to competing firms. The latest AI chip regulations and Huawei’s expanding realm of influence are making the issue more complex.
Simultaneously, U.S.-imposed tariffs and export curbs are entangling tech supply chains, jeopardizing production, and forcefully prompting profound shifts in strategic planning for multiple U.S. corporations. The longer negotiation stalemates concerning the forthcoming tariff policies persist, the larger the catastrophe awaiting tech enterprises and other businesses.
Apple, one of the largest corporations most vulnerable to the trade war — in addition to Nvidia — has declared a significant shift of its production from China to India in response. Unlike Nvidia, Apple’s hurdles may be more manageable as its difficulties predominantly lie in supply, not demand.
While Apple can relocate its production, its revenue is mostly generated in foreign markets. If international political tensions steer more nations away from the U.S., this could potentially channel new clients in Huawei’s direction.
Currently, the definitive impacts of export controls and the trade war on Nvidia’s comprehensive business strategy are challenging to evaluate. However, the current trend appears to signal a mounting wave of grievances. This situation positions Huawei with its largest opportunity since the Western prohibition of its telecommunication enterprise.
Today, Huawei is starting to emerge as one of the principal challengers to Nvidia in the worldwide AI chip industry. This battlefield holds great stakes, not only for these tech giants but for the global technology landscape as a whole.
The post Nvidia CEO Voices Concern About Huawei Amid Trade Wars appeared first on Real News Now.
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