According to media reports on May 13, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has confirmed to join US President Trump’s delegation to China. Outside analysts believe that Huang Renxun's trip has sent a positive signal, and that the once stagnant high-end H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chip trade with China is expected to achieve a substantial breakthrough.
It is reported that Huang Renxun was not included in the list of accompanying executives previously announced by the White House. The initial candidates were mainly Tesla CEO Musk, Apple CEO Cook and more than a dozen business leaders. Sources revealed that Trump personally called Huang to extend the invitation on Tuesday local time. Subsequently, Huang Jen-Hsun was observed boarding Air Force One in Alaska to follow the Chinese delegation and is expected to arrive on Wednesday night, Beijing time.
A spokesman for NVIDIA responded that Huang Renxun was invited to attend the summit at the invitation of President Trump to support the realization of relevant US goals. The White House stated that Huang Renxun's schedule has changed and that his accompanying visit is in the interests of both parties.
The sudden change in Huang Jen-Hsun's schedule triggered optimistic expectations in the market for resolving the high-end chip export impasse. As the focus of Sino-US technology trade, the access issue of H200 chips has attracted much attention. Previously, the Chinese market contributed approximately 13% of Nvidia’s annual revenue. Although the U.S. officially approved the sales of H200 chips to China at the end of last year and in January this year, due to procedural obstacles such as additional conditions, differences in transaction terms, and administrative approval, no chips have yet been officially delivered to Chinese customers.
Relevant persons in charge of many large cloud computing companies and server manufacturers in China said that Huang Renxun's visit with the delegation is a clear signal of change and is expected to promote the long-stagnant procurement process. U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick has previously pointed out that the administrative approval process is the main factor leading to the slow progress of related trade.
However, the move also sparked divisions within Washington. Some politicians who take a hard-line stance worry that related exports may undermine the United States' technological leadership. Relevant researchers at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) publicly expressed doubts about Huang Jen-Hsun's visit to China, believing that related trade may damage the strategic advantages of the United States.