Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visits Republicans as debate over intensifying AI race rages

WASHINGTON– WASHINGTON (AP) — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met separately with President Donald Trump and Republican senators Wednesday as tech executives push for federal policies friendly to the artificial intelligence sector, including the limited sale of Nvidia’s popular computer chips to U.S. rivals like China.

Huang’s closed-door meeting with Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee came at a time of intensifying lobbying, soaring investment and bold predictions from big tech companies about the potential transformative effects of AI.

Huang is among Silicon Valley executives who warn that any restrictions on the technology will halt its progress despite growing concerns from policymakers and the public about the potential pitfalls of AI or how foreign rivals like China could use U.S. hardware.

“I have said repeatedly that we support export controls, that we should ensure that American companies have the best, the many and the first,” Huang told reporters before his meeting at the Capitol.

He added that he shared concerns about the sale of AI chips to China, but believed the restrictions had not slowed China’s progress in the AI ​​race.

“We have to be able to be competitive around the world. The only thing we can’t do is not degrade the chips we sell to China. They won’t accept that. There’s a reason they won’t accept that, and so we should offer the most competitive chips possible to the Chinese market,” Huang said.

Huang also said he met with Trump earlier Wednesday and discussed export controls on Nvidia’s chips. Huang added that he wished the president “a happy holiday.”

The Trump administration in May rolled back Biden-era restrictions that blocked Nvidia and other chipmakers from exporting their chips to a wide range of countries. The White House also announced an unusual deal in August that would allow Nvidia and another U.S. chipmaker, Advanced Micro Devices, to sell their chips in the Chinese market, but would require the U.S. government to take a 15% cut of sales.

The deal has divided lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where AI export controls have broad support.

Members of Congress generally view the sale of high-end AI chips to China as a national security risk. China is the United States’ main competitor in the race to develop artificial superintelligence. Lawmakers have also proposed a series of bills this year aimed at regulating AI’s impact on dozens of industries, but none have yet become law.

Most Republican senators who attended the meeting with Huang declined to discuss their conversations. But a few called the meeting positive and productive.

“To me, it’s a very healthy discussion,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota. Rounds said lawmakers had a “general discussion” with Huang about the state of AI and that senators were still open to a wide range of policies.

Asked if he thought Nvidia’s interests and goals were fully aligned with U.S. national security, Rounds responded: “They are not currently selling chips in China. And they understand that they are an American company. They want to be able to compete with the rest of the world. They would like to be able to compete in China again, but they recognize that export controls are also important for our own national security.”

Other Republicans were more skeptical of Huang’s message.

Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican who sits on the upper chamber’s banking committee, said he skipped the meeting altogether.

“I don’t view it as an objective, credible source on whether we should sell chips to China,” Kennedy told reporters. “He has more money than the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and he wants even more. I don’t blame you, but if I’m looking for someone to give me objective advice on whether we should make our technology available to China, it’s not him.”

Some Democrats, excluded from the meeting entirely, expressed frustration with Huang’s presence at the Capitol.

“Clearly, he wants to pressure Republicans in secret rather than explaining himself,” said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee.

Warren added that she wants Huang to testify at a public congressional hearing and answer “questions about why her company wants to favor Chinese manufacturers over American companies that need access to these high-quality chips.”