Huang is among the Silicon Valley executives who warn that any restrictions on the technology will halt its advancement despite mounting concerns among policymakers and the public about AI's potential pitfalls or the ways foreign rivals like China may use American hardware.He added that he shared concerns about selling AI chips to China but believed that restrictions haven't slowed Chinese advancement in the AI race.Huang also said he’d met with Trump earlier Wednesday and discussed export controls for Nvidia’s chips.Huang added that he wished the president “a happy holidays.”The Trump administration in May reversed Biden-era restrictions that had prevented Nvidia and other chipmakers from exporting their chips to a wide range of countries.The White House in August also announced an unusual deal that would allow Nvidia and another U.S.
chipmaker, Advanced Micro Devices, to sell their chips in the Chinese market but would require the U.S.government to take a 15% cut of the sales.The deal divided lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where there is broad support for controls on AI exports.Most Republican senators who attended the meeting with Huang declined to discuss their conversations.But a handful described the meeting as positive and productive.Popular ReadsTrump admin live updates: Trump pardons former entertainment exec indicted by own DOJDec 3, 11:29 PMNational Guardsmen shooting suspect: Afghan commander's death, financial woes surfaceDec 1, 5:22 AMTeen on cruise ship possibly died by asphyxiation resulting from bar hold: SourceNov 21, 2:20 PM“For me, this is a very healthy discussion to have,” said Sen.
Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican.Rounds said lawmakers had a “general discussion" with Huang about the state of AI and said senators were still open to a wide range of policies.Other Republicans were more skeptical of Huang's message.Sen.John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican who sits on the upper chamber's Banking Committee, said he skipped the meeting entirely.“I don’t consider him to be an objective, credible source about whether we should be selling chips to China,” Kennedy told reporters.
“He’s got more money than the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and he wants even more.I don’t blame you for that, but if I’m looking for someone to give me objective advice about whether we should make our technology available to China, he's not it."Some Democrats, shut out from the meeting altogether, expressed frustration at Huang's presence on Capitol Hill.“Evidently, he wants to go lobby Republicans in secret rather than explain himself,” said Massachusetts Sen.Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee.
