Nvidia Navigates US-China Trade Tensions as AI Chip Leader

Published Date : 12/10/2025 

Nvidia, the world's leading AI chipmaker, has found itself at the center of US-China trade tensions. The company's advanced technology and significant market presence have made it a key player in the ongoing negotiations and restrictions. 

Tech giant Nvidia is the world’s leading artificial-intelligence chipmaker, but the company’s success has also put it in the crossfire of trade tensions.

The Santa Clara, California-based company, which is approaching a market capitalization of $5 trillion, has seen rapid growth due to its chips, which are predominantly used to power massive data centers used by other tech firms, like OpenAI, the creator of popular AI chatbot ChatGPT.

But Nvidia’s leading technology has been used as a negotiating tool in President Donald Trump’s trade spat with China, which was kickstarted by Trump’s sweeping tariffs in April and has escalated over rare earth mineral disputes. It’s further complicated Nvidia’s relationship with China, where it was doing roughly 25% of its graphics processing unit sales, estimates Gil Luria, head of technology research at D.A. Davidson. Nvidia’s popularity has also embroiled the company in a steep controversy for potentially allowing China to skirt around export restrictions as trade tensions continue.

“Nvidia has gotten caught in the middle of two very important things: a trade dispute between China and the United States … but more importantly, AI has become a matter of national security,” Luria said. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has argued that restricting sales of American AI chips will ultimately enable Chinese developers to create their own alternatives.

Huang, 62, was born in Taiwan, and at age 9 was sent by his parents to live in Tacoma, Washington. In 1993, the Oregon State and Stanford University grad co-founded Nvidia, which started as a graphics-based processing company. Huang — who is worth $167 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index — has been treated as a rockstar in Taiwan for his success in the AI chips race, and previously worked as a microprocessor designer at now-competitor AMD.

“It’s really unusual to have somebody who can go from starting what was at the time a very small tech startup and grow it to the extraordinary level of success that Nvidia has grown to,” John Villasenor, a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Institution and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said of Huang. Nvidia powers the data centers that support AI technology and has been the go-to provider of those chips.

Nvidia essentially created the architecture for anyone who develops AI, leading to a surge in demand for its technology, according to Arun Sundararajan, a professor of technology, operations and statistics at NYU Stern School of Business. The company said in September that it would invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and provide it with data center chips as soon as late 2026. Nvidia is competing with AMD for deals with partners like OpenAI, which said Monday it would use 6 gigawatts of AMD chips to power OpenAI’s data centers.

“The competition has undeniably arrived. Customers will choose the best technology stack for running the world’s most popular commercial applications and open-source models. We’ll continue to work to earn the trust and support of mainstream developers everywhere,” an Nvidia spokesperson said in a statement shared with CNN.

In recent years, the US government has sought to restrict Chinese access to American technology to slow Beijing’s progress on AI, thus allowing the United States to take the lead. Trump continued the trend in April, when he restricted China’s access to chips, including Nvidia’s H20, as part of his trade war. Such restrictions on the sale of chips offended China, Luria said, and ultimately led to Beijing limiting the purchase of chips to their companies. But the White House recently reversed their position. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS): 

Q: What is Nvidia's primary technology?

A: Nvidia primarily develops advanced AI chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) used in data centers and other tech applications.

Q: How has Nvidia's market capitalization grown?

A: Nvidia's market capitalization has grown rapidly, approaching $5 trillion, due to the high demand for its AI chips used in data centers and other tech firms.

Q: What role has Nvidia played in US-China trade tensions?

A: Nvidia's advanced technology has been used as a negotiating tool in the trade dispute between the US and China, leading to restrictions on chip sales to China.

Q: Who is Jensen Huang, and what is his background?

A: Jensen Huang is the CEO of Nvidia, born in Taiwan and educated in the US. He co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and has led the company to significant success in the AI chip market.

Q: How is Nvidia competing with AMD in the AI chip market?

A: Nvidia is competing with AMD for deals with tech partners like OpenAI, with both companies investing heavily in providing data center chips and technology. 

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