China is only "a few nanoseconds" behind the United States.

In recent years, the U.S. government has imposed a series of chip export restrictions targeting China, in an attempt to suppress the development of China's chip industry. However, U.S. technology companies have found that such containment and suppression cannot hinder China's technological progress, as Chinese enterprises are making active efforts to bypass U.S. restrictions.

According to a report by Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post on September 28, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, stated recently that China is only "a few nanoseconds" behind the United States in the chip sector and possesses tremendous potential in chip R&D and manufacturing. He called on the U.S. government to allow American tech firms to compete in markets such as China, so as to "enhance U.S. influence."

In a podcast released on the 26th, Huang described the chip industry as a "dynamic, entrepreneurial, high-tech modern industry." He noted that China has a rich talent pool and intense internal competition, endowing it with great potential in chip R&D and manufacturing. He said, "China is a few nanoseconds behind the U.S., so we have to compete."

Huang argued that the U.S. should allow its technology industry to compete on a global scale, including in the Chinese market, thereby "spreading technology around the world" and "maximizing America's economic success and geopolitical influence."

He added that he believes China will remain open to foreign investment, stating, "It is in China's interest to have active competition among foreign companies that invest in China, compete in China, and interact with one another. They also want to go global and participate in international competition."

With the rapid development of AI technology, NVIDIA's graphics processing unit (GPU) business has grown significantly. However, in recent years, the U.S. government has imposed strict export controls to suppress China's chip development. Earlier this year, the U.S. government banned NVIDIA from exporting its H20 chips to China. It was not until NVIDIA agreed to hand over 15% of its sales revenue in China to the U.S. government that the export license for the H20 chip was reinstated.

The H20 is a "downgraded version" of AI chip specifically designed by NVIDIA for the Chinese market to comply with U.S. export controls. With performance only 15%-30% that of NVIDIA's flagship H100 chip, it is based on NVIDIA's older Hopper architecture.

Nevertheless, in the face of U.S. suppression, Chinese enterprises are striving to launch domestic AI chips that can replace NVIDIA's products, seizing the market share that NVIDIA once dominated. For instance, Huawei unveiled its three-year product iteration roadmap for Ascend AI chips last week. Through a computing power solution featuring "super nodes + clusters," Huawei aims to meet the ever-growing demand for computing power in an integrated manner.

The South China Morning Post pointed out that major internet companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, and ByteDance have also increased their investment in chip R&D and design, seeking greater self-reliance and control in the supply chain.

On September 16 (local time), Reuters reported exclusively that NVIDIA has launched a number of "customized downgraded chips" for the Chinese market, but a growing number of Chinese buyers are reluctant to purchase them. For example, demand for NVIDIA's latest AI chip RTX 6000D, tailor-made for the Chinese market, remains sluggish, and several major Chinese tech giants—NVIDIA's key clients—have refused to place orders for it.

In addition, NVIDIA is also facing issues such as security vulnerabilities and monopoly risks.

On July 31, to safeguard the cybersecurity and data security of Chinese users, Chinese authorities held a meeting with NVIDIA, requiring the company to explain the security risks related to backdoors in the H20 computing chip sold to China and submit relevant supporting materials. "Yuyuantan Tian," a new media account under China Central Television (CCTV), published an article naming the H20 chip as "neither environmentally friendly nor advanced, and even less secure," stating that it is not a "good choice."

On December 9 last year, Chinese regulatory authorities launched a formal investigation into NVIDIA in accordance with the law on suspicion of violating anti-monopoly regulations. Nearly a year later, on September 15, China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued another statement on its official website, stating that NVIDIA had violated anti-monopoly laws and that a further investigation would be conducted in accordance with the law.

On September 17 (local time), Huang responded to China's recent decision to launch a further investigation into NVIDIA. He stated that the U.S. needs to "ensure that people around the world can access this (AI chip) technology, including China." He said, "The progress of human society is not a zero-sum game... but I believe dialogues will resolve issues on their own."

Huang emphasized the importance of China's AI industry, noting, "The Chinese market is important and large. The technology industry here is vibrant. We have been serving the Chinese market for 30 years."

Regarding the chip sales issue, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian stated on September 18 that China has always opposed discriminatory practices targeting specific countries in economic, trade, and technological matters. China is willing to maintain dialogue and cooperation with all parties to safeguard the stability of global industrial and supply chains.