White House AI Czar David Sacks Warns Washington Must Let US Chipmakers Like Nvidia Sell Abroad Or Risk Forfeiting AI Race To Huawei And China
White House AI czar David Sacks warns that U.S. export controls on chipmakers like Nvidia could allow Chinese firms, particularly Huawei, to gain an edge in the AI race. He highlights Huawei's new AI chip and China's directive to halt Nvidia purchases as signs of urgency. While Nvidia maintains a lead, Sacks cautions that delays in U.S. policy could benefit Huawei. Market analysts express skepticism about Huawei's capabilities compared to Nvidia, despite Nvidia's recent stock fluctuations.
On Thursday, White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks urged Washington to update export control policies, warning that restricting U.S. companies like Nvidia Corp. NVDA from selling chips abroad could hand Chinese companies such as Huawei Technologies the advantage in the global race for artificial intelligence dominance.
David Sacks Says Export Controls Need Rethinking
In a post on X, Sacks said two developments in China this week underscore the urgency: Huawei unveiled a new AI chip to compete with Nvidia and Beijing ordered domestic companies to stop buying certain Nvidia processors.
"Taken together, the message is clear: China is not desperate for our chips," Sacks wrote. "It is producing its own and intends to compete globally in the semiconductor market."
While acknowledging that Nvidia still holds a substantial lead, he noted Huawei is compensating for weaker chips by clustering them in large networks.
He cautioned, "Excessive bureaucratic delays are a gift for Huawei, which will fill out purchase orders as American companies fill out forms."
Huawei Unveils Chip Roadmap
Huawei has disclosed long-term chip plans for the first time, announcing its Ascend AI chips and Kunpeng server processors will follow a one-year release cycle, doubling compute power with each iteration, reported Reuters.
Rotating chairman Eric Xu also said the company has developed proprietary high-bandwidth memory, a technology previously dominated by South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics Co. SSNLF.
At the same time, the Cyberspace Administration of China directed major tech firms, including ByteDance and Alibaba Holdings BABA to end testing and orders of Nvidia's RTX Pro 6000D, a chip specifically designed for China to comply with U.S. restrictions, according to the Financial Times.
Wall Street Voices Skepticism
Market commentators pushed back on claims that Huawei is surpassing Nvidia.
Earlier, CNBC's Mad Money host Jim Cramer criticized Chinese media reports, saying, "If their chips were so great everyone would use them."
Daniel Newman, CEO of Futurum Group, has similarly called the idea that China can move on without Nvidia "next-level nonsense."
Previously, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had called Huawei formidable, though Huawei's own founder Ren Zhengfei has admitted the company still trails U.S. chip technology.
Price Action: Nvidia shares climbed 3.49% during Thursday's regular session but slipped 0.24% in pre-market trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that NVDA is on an upward trajectory over the medium and long term, while showing a short-term decline. More detailed performance insights can be found here.
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