By Ben Blanchard and Wen-Yee Lee
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang said on Friday he will not be attending U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, but will instead be “on the road” celebrating the Lunar New Year with employees and their families.
Asked by reporters outside Nvidia’s new year party in Taipei whether he had talked with the incoming Trump administration about the new artificial intelligence export control rules the outgoing Biden administration unveiled this week, Huang said, “not yet”.
“But I’ll look forward to congratulating the Trump administration when they take office.”
He also said he had met C.C. Wei, the chairman of Nvidia’s main supplier TSMC for lunch where they talked about ramping up production of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips Blackwell.
Surging demand for chips has catapulted Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia into the ranks of the world’s most valuable companies, with a market value exceeding $3 trillion.
However, new U.S. government export restrictions on AI chips may complicate Nvidia’s ability to deliver the robust revenue growth that investors expect.
The regulations, announced by the administration of President Joe Biden on Jan. 13, limit AI chip exports to most countries except for a select group of close U.S. allies including Taiwan.
They also maintain a block on exports to some countries, including China, as the U.S. tries to close regulatory loopholes and prevent Beijing from acquiring advanced chips that could bolster its military capabilities.
On Monday, Nvidia criticised Washington’s latest effort to tighten its grip on AI chip flows around the world, saying the regulation would jeopardise current U.S. leadership in AI.
Trump will take over from Biden as U.S. President on Jan. 20. While it is unclear how his administration will enforce the new rules, the two sides share similar views on the competitive threat from China.
The new regulations are set to take effect 120 days from publication, giving the new administration time to weigh in.
Huang attended a Nvidia new year party in Shenzhen on Wednesday, according to Chinese social media posts. He is expected to visit Beijing on Monday for the company’s party there, a source close to Nvidia said.
Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Lee Wen-Yee in Taipei; Additional reporting by Laurie Chen in Beijing; Writing by Liz Lee and Brenda Goh; editing by David Evans and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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