Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang has cautioned that China will outpace the U.S. in the artificial intelligence (AI) race. “China is going to win the AI race,” said Huang to the Financial Times at the British media outlet’s Future of AI Summit event in London. Huang added on Nvidia’s official account on X that China is “nanoseconds” behind the U.S. in the AI space. He cited lower energy costs and Beijing’s less stringent regulations as the reasons for his opinion.
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That said, several hours after the Financial Times report, Huang softened his stance via a statement on X, saying, “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.”
Nvidia CEO Weighs in on the U.S.-China AI Race
The semiconductor giant’s CEO contends that China’s energy subsidies for several large data centers operated by Chinese tech giants, such as ByteDance, Alibaba (BABA), and Tencent (TCEHY), and less stringent regulations are supporting the country’s efforts to develop advanced chips required to power AI tech.
Huang has previously argued that America can dominate the AI race if it ensures that developers worldwide use Nvidia’s advanced AI chips. In fact, he used this argument to convince the U.S. administration to remove export restrictions on the sale of Nvidia’s chips to China. However, last week, President Donald Trump stated that he doesn’t want anyone except the U.S. to use Nvidia’s Blackwell chips.
The chip company’s woes worsened after Beijing prohibited its tech companies from buying Nvidia’s AI chips while it reviews their impact on national security. Experts believe that this move reflects China’s confidence in developing AI chips domestically and an attempt to leverage the situation in its trade negotiations with the Trump administration.
Given this scenario, Huang told the Financial Times that the West, including the U.S. and UK, is being weighed down by “cynicism” and excessive regulations, while China’s energy subsidies are lowering costs for local developers relying on domestic chips. “We need more optimism,” argued Huang.
Is Nvidia Stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
Despite rising competition in the AI chips space and the U.S.-China trade war, Wall Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on Nvidia stock based on 37 Buys, one Hold, and one Sell recommendation. The bullish stance of most analysts is based on robust demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs).
The average NVDA stock price target of $237.35 indicates 21.6% upside potential. NVDA stock has risen more than 45% year-to-date.
