TLDR: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced that the company’s market share for advanced AI chips in China has plummeted from 95% to zero, a direct consequence of stringent US export controls. Huang warned that policies intended to harm China could also negatively impact the US, potentially in ‘even worse ways,’ emphasizing the importance of China’s AI ecosystem and the risk of fostering domestic competition.
Nvidia, a global leader in advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips, has seen its market share in China for these critical components collapse from an estimated 95% to effectively zero. This stark revelation came from CEO Jensen Huang during a live interview at Citadel Securities’ Future of Global Markets 2025 event in New York on October 6.
Huang explicitly stated, ‘At the moment, we are 100% out of China,’ adding, ‘We went from 95% market share to 0%.’ He attributed this dramatic shift entirely to the escalating US export controls on high-end semiconductors, which have been progressively tightened since October 2022. These restrictions have targeted Nvidia’s most advanced AI accelerators, including the A100, H100, and H200 series. Even China-optimized versions, such as the A800 and H800, designed to comply with earlier regulations, were later rendered non-compliant by expanded rules in 2023. Nvidia’s more recent offering, the H20 GPU, also faced significant licensing hurdles and a security investigation by Chinese regulators, which reportedly discouraged local firms from purchasing it.
The financial implications for Nvidia are substantial. China previously represented a significant portion of the company’s data center revenue, accounting for 20% to 25%. In response to the current situation, Nvidia has adjusted its financial forecasts to assume ‘0% for China,’ with Huang noting, ‘If anything happens in China… it will be a bonus.’
Huang did not mince words in his criticism of the policy’s outcome, stating, ‘I can’t imagine any policymaker thinking that’s a good idea, that whatever policy we implemented caused America to lose one of the largest markets in the world to 0%.’ He further cautioned against the broader economic repercussions for the United States, asserting, ‘What harms China could oftentimes also harm America, and even worse.’ Huang advocated for a more ‘nuanced’ approach to regulation, emphasizing the importance of maintaining connections with China’s AI ecosystem, where he estimates ‘about 50 per cent of the world’s AI researchers’ reside.
Also Read:
- Open-Source Innovations Drive Down Costs and Boost Accessibility in AI Chip Development
- Leading Tech Firms Unveil Advanced AI Strategies for Future Infrastructure Development
This policy has not only impacted Nvidia but has also spurred China to accelerate its domestic chip development programs, fostering the rise of local competitors like Huawei Technologies. Huang has consistently warned that sweeping export restrictions could ‘spur the development of competitive substitutes’ and lead to a fragmentation of the global AI hardware ecosystem, creating parallel technological spheres.
