Nvidia's Jensen Huang backs Trump move to scrap Biden-era AI export curbs

Huang called the curbs a "failure" by the US, arguing they fuelled China's AI growth and helped firms like Huawei; he welcomed Trump's move to roll back Biden's chip restrictions

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has backed the Donald Trump administration’s decision to roll back Biden-era export curbs on AI chips, calling the restrictions a strategic “failure” that inadvertently boosted Chinese firms like Huawei Technologies. 

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Computex, a major technology trade show in Taiwan, Huang criticised the US policy for weakening American influence in China’s AI ecosystem.

 

“China has 50 per cent of the world’s AI developers, and it’s important that when they develop on an architecture, they develop on Nvidia—or at least American technology,” Huang said.

 

He rejected the notion that the US is the sole hub for AI infrastructure, stating:

 

“The assumption that the US is the only place that develops and provides AI infrastructure is fundamentally wrong.”

 

US market share loss in China 

Huang said that Nvidia now controls 50 per cent of the market in China, compared with almost 95 per cent at the start of the Biden administration in 2021.

 

“All in all, the export controls were a failure. The facts would suggest it. The US should maximise the speed of AI diffusion. Because if we don’t, the competition will come.”

 

What were the 'Biden-era AI chip curbs'? 

In January 2025, President Joe Biden’s administration introduced the “AI Diffusion Rule”, a series of export control measures aimed at limiting China’s access to advanced AI chips and technologies. The goal was to prevent American innovations from supporting China’s military or surveillance apparatus.

 

These rules were scheduled to take effect from 15 May 2025.

 

Trump’s rollback and response 

However, just days earlier, on 13 May, the Department of Commerce (DOC) under the Trump administration initiated a rollback of the restrictions.

 

“The Trump administration will pursue a bold, inclusive strategy to share American AI technology with trusted foreign countries, while keeping it out of our adversaries’ hands,” said Jeffery Kessler, Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security.

 

“At the same time, we reject the Biden administration’s attempt to impose its own ill-conceived and counterproductive AI policies on the American people.”