Jensen Huang U-turns on China ahead of US in AI race claim, says vital that America wins

US-based AI semiconductor chipmaker Nvidia's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jensen Huang, on Wednesday, 5 November 2025, said that China is only nanoseconds behind the United States in the global race for advancements in artificial intelligence (AI).

Jensen Huang also highlighted that it is essential for the United States to win the global AI race by staying ahead of other nations and winning developers around the world.

“As I have long said, China is nanoseconds behind America in AI. It's vital that America wins by racing ahead and winning developers worldwide,” Jensen Huang said in an official statement.

Jensen Huang's take on China

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's statement comes after he said that China will surpass the United States to win the global AI race, according to earlier media reports.

“China is going to win the AI race,” Huang told the Financial Times on Wednesday, 5 November 2025, commenting on the global race to develop next-generation AI technology on the sidelines of the FT summit in London.

Huang also said that Western nations, including the United States, are currently held back by “cynicism” over artificial intelligence, as the billionaire CEO urged the federal government to promote policies which will help America win against developers around the world.

China's ban on foreign AI chips

According to a recent Reuters report, the Chinese government has issued a notification where the data centre projects which receive government funds will be mandated to only use domestic AI chips.

The authorities have reportedly ordered data centres which are less than 30% complete to remove all foreign-made chips and cancel their plans to purchase chips from abroad.

Nvidia's H20, B200, and H200 chips are among the chips which are currently being used in Chinese data centres which will be banned to use these chips from now on. The US-based chipmaking firm's current market share in China has dropped to zero, compared to its earlier 95% level in 2022.

According to the agency report, citing people aware of the development, the foreign chip ban on projects which are at an advanced stage will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

China's move to shift to domestic semiconductor chips is likely to boost the sales of these components from the local brands in the Asian nation. However, this move also risks increasing the technological gap between the United States and China as the latter now aims to focus on local AI chip manufacturing and usage.