With the meteoric rise of Nvidia, chief executive Jensen Huang has been nicknamed a tech "rock star" and the 'Taylor Swift of tech'
Computer chip giant Nvidia has once again found itself at the centre of US-China tensions over trade and technology.
On Thursday Nvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang flew to Beijing to meet senior Chinese officials, just after the US imposed new export controls on its chips.
The California-based company will require licenses to export its H20 AI chip to China, a move which the US Commerce Department said was designed to safeguard "national and economic security". Nvidia said federal officials had told them the requirement will be in force for the "indefinite future".
But why is the company so pivotal in the race for AI supremacy between the US and China?
What is Nvidia?
Nvidia designs advanced chips, or semiconductors, that are used in generative artificial intelligence. Generative AI can produce new content from a user's prompt, like ChatGPT.
In recent years, a surge in global demand for AI chips led Nvidia to become one of the world's most valuable companies. In November, Nvidia briefly unseated Apple as the largest company in the world by market capitalisation.
Because its chips are seen as so essential to advancements in generative AI, successive US administrations have scrutinised Nvidia's relationship with China.
Washington hopes the new export controls will slow China's development of advanced AI chips - especially their use by the Chinese military - and secure an advantage in AI competition with Beijing.
No comments:
Post a Comment