Nvidia’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, made a surprise visit to Beijing on Thursday, just days after the US imposed fresh restrictions on sales of the company’s AI chips to China. The visit was reportedly organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and was seen as an effort to maintain cooperation with China.
The move comes amid growing tensions between the US and China over trade and technology. The new US rules, which apply to shipments of Nvidia’s H20 datacentre GPUs, are designed to prevent the company’s products from being used in a supercomputer in China. The restrictions have sparked concerns about the impact on the tech industry, with Nvidia’s stock slumping around 7% on Wednesday.
Nvidia has pledged to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years, and the company’s CEO, Jensen Huang, has said that he will balance legal compliance with technological advances. However, the visit to Beijing has raised concerns about the company’s commitment to complying with US regulations.
The meeting between Huang and Ren Hongbin, the head of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, was seen as an effort to reassure Chinese authorities about Nvidia’s intentions. The visit also came after a shock emergence of DeepSeek, an AI chatbot that has raised concerns about national security and intellectual property.
Nvidia’s decision to build up its AI infrastructure in the US comes amid growing pressure on the tech industry from US tariffs and other regulations. The company’s shares are among those that have fallen steeply in recent weeks, and Trump has threatened separate tariffs on the global semiconductor industry.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/apr/17/nvidias-ceo-surprise-visit-beijing-restricts-chip-sales-china