U.S. Senators Urge NVIDIA CEO to Avoid Chinese Firms on Trip

Two U.S. senators, Elizabeth Warren and Jim Banks, have sent a joint letter to NVIDIA’s CEO, Jensen Huang, ahead of his visit to China. The senators urged Huang to avoid meeting with certain Chinese firms during his trip, warning that some of these businesses may be helping Beijing circumvent American export rules or enhance its military capabilities.

The letter, sent on Friday, July 11, 2025, specifically asked Huang to steer clear of companies suspected of working around U.S. export controls or those believed to be aiding China’s defense or intelligence agencies. The senators also pressed Huang to avoid any talks with organizations listed under the United States government’s export restrictions, including firms that might undermine American technology safeguards or any entity officially banned from receiving U.S. semiconductors.

The senators expressed concern that Huang’s trip to China could legitimize companies that cooperate closely with the Chinese military or involve discussing exploitable gaps in U.S. export controls. They highlighted the strategic importance of the hardware powering advanced AI, which includes NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs).

In response to the letter, a spokesperson from NVIDIA stated that when U.S. technology becomes the world standard, “America wins.” The spokesperson noted that China hosts the largest number of software engineers globally and argued that AI applications “should run best on the U.S. technology stack, encouraging nations worldwide to choose America.”

Earlier this year, at Taipei’s Computex trade show during May 2025, Huang praised Donald Trump’s move to lift certain AI chip export curbs. He called the previous diffusion rules a “failure” and said they ultimately spurred Chinese firms to build their own high-end chips. In April 2025, Washington tightened export restrictions on advanced AI chips. Huang warned that those rules would slash NVIDIA’s revenue by about $15 billion, noting that the company had modified its products to comply with U.S. regulations.

In their letter, Banks and Warren pointed out that chips used for cutting-edge AI have become a rare issue that unites lawmakers from both parties in favor of looser export paths. They warned that AI can “accelerate the PRC’s effort to modernize its military.”

Congressional concern has also grown over efforts to dodge U.S. controls. Lawmakers have proposed requiring chipmakers to track and verify the final destination of the products. In June 2025, it was revealed that a company was working with China’s military and had used third parties to bypass U.S. export limits.

It was also reported earlier that NVIDIA plans to release a lower-cost version of Blackwell chips specifically for the Chinese market. In their letter, the senators highlighted NVIDIA’s new Shanghai research facility as one sign that the company’s moves could strengthen China’s domestic AI and semiconductor industries.

Huang is set to attend Beijing’s International Supply Chain Expo, which kicks off this coming Wednesday. Sources familiar with the matter said that the CEO hopes to meet Premier Qiang and Vice-Premier Lifeng. Those meetings are still being finalized and require Beijing’s approval.

At Computex in Taipei, Huang argued that U.S. export curbs had only pushed companies in China to speed up their AI projects. He noted that NVIDIA’s share of the China AI-chip market had fallen from roughly 95 percent in 2021 to about 50 percent today, and he predicted that China’s AI sector could soon be worth $50 billion.

During his trip, Huang would stress NVIDIA’s continued focus on China despite various export restrictions resulting in losses worth several billion for the company. A person with knowledge of the plans said the cheaper Blackwell chip will not ship before September 2025, after NVIDIA secures a green signal from the US government.