The United States Senate Banking Committee will convene a hearing this Thursday focusing on AI development and the U.S. tech rivalry with China. But Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, the man at the very center of those questions, won’t be there.
In a letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren, Huang declined to testify at the hearing, before inviting Warren for a tour of Nvidia’s headquarters instead. “I am unable to attend, but appreciate the Committee’s focus on these important issues,” the letter said.
“Nvidia designed, built, and delivered the first AI supercomputer to American researchers over a decade ago,” Huang wrote. “Since that time, we have been dedicated to keeping American researchers, academics, startups, and businesses at the forefront of AI-related technologies.”
Huang’s refusal to testify comes amid growing scrutiny of the role Nvidia plays in the AI race between the U.S. and China.
In her original letter inviting Huang to testify, Warren wrote: “Appearing as a witness will give you an opportunity to testify about Nvidia’s views on U.S. export control laws and regulations and Nvidia’s business in China.”
Huang has lobbied hard over the past year for President Donald Trump to roll back chip export controls imposed during the Biden administration. That effort has had mixed results, with the Trump administration agreeing to approve the sale of Nvidia’s H200, which has since run into resistance from the Chinese authorities.
At the same time, there have been reports that Chinese AI firms are getting access to Nvidia’s chips anyway, through smuggling. In March, the Justice Department charged American tech firm Supermicro’s co-founder, Yih-Shyan Liaw (廖益賢), in connection with a scheme to smuggle $2.5 billion in export-controlled Nvidia AI servers to China. During a recent trip to Taiwan, Huang urged Supermicro to straighten out its compliance issues.
“I appreciate Mr. Huang’s response, but the American people deserve answers in a public forum,” Warren said in a statement on Monday in response to Huang’s declination. “Nvidia sits at the center of some of the most important questions facing our country about artificial intelligence, economic competition, and national security. If Mr. Huang has time to attend a $1 million-a-head dinner at Mar-a-Lago and fly across the world to meet with President Xi Jinping (習近平) of China, he should be able to find time to answer questions from Congress.
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