Nvidia’s Huang wins on export controls as chip access expands to new markets

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is riding a rare moment of leverage as the company secures a loosening of U.S. export controls that had long restricted the sale of its chips to key markets in China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The development came on the heels of high-profile meetings in Washington with former President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a convergence of corporate diplomacy and policy signals that Nvidia described as a win for the United States’ national-security strategy as it seeks to sustain AI leadership.

Three days before TIME published its 2025 Person of the Year interview with Huang, he and Trump held talks in the nation’s capital alongside MBS. In the days that followed, the administration signaled that tens of thousands of Nvidia GPUs—chips that had been held in limbo on national-security grounds—would be released to buyers in the Gulf region. The talks underscored a broader pivot in the U.S. stance on export controls, one Nvidia has long argued should be aligned with national security goals rather than simply limiting access to markets.

The policy shift follows a fraught period in which Washington restricted the export of advanced semiconductors to China, a move rooted in a belief that limiting Beijing’s access to top chips would hamper its AI ambitions. Beijing, for its part, tightened its stance by banning Nvidia chips entirely this summer, a setback that Nvidia publicly acknowledged by noting its China revenue had effectively shrunk to zero. The company has argued that export controls can be counterproductive, warning that they may spur China to accelerate its domestic chip efforts and, in turn, threaten U.S. technological leadership.

Huang has framed the debate as one about balancing access with security. In conversations and interviews around the time of the Washington meetings, he stressed that Nvidia’s export strategy should serve a broader U.S. interest by maintaining economic vitality and, by extension, supporting national security. "We want America to be the wealthiest country so that we can fund the mightiest military," Huang told TIME during the year’s coverage of AI architects and influencers. He added that he values a simple life and cherished personal moments, even as the business roars ahead.

Behind the scenes, Nvidia has pressed a pragmatic case to policymakers: export controls that constrain China’s access to Nvidia’s most powerful chips could actually push Beijing to hasten its own domestic alternatives, potentially undermining long-term U.S. security advantages. The company has argued that calibrated exports can preserve a healthy market for U.S. suppliers while preventing a Chinese semiconductor capability from eroding American lead in AI hardware, a point it has carried into meetings with senior administration officials.

The latest turn centers on Nvidia’s next-generation Hopper line—the H200 chips widely viewed as the strongest that could be exported under the prior regime. The discussions around loosening export controls rolled into public reporting that the administration would permit shipments of the H200 to China, a significant milestone given the prior restrictions. The government confirmed that the anticipated easing was underway just ahead of TIME’s feature, a development Huang framed as a strategic victory for Nvidia, its customers, and broader U.S. security interests by ensuring access to top-tier chips in a controlled manner.

The Gulf release matters beyond quarterly results: it opens tens of thousands of chips to customers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, buyers who have long sought Nvidia’s accelerators for AI workloads across defense, energy and financial services. MBS, who has long championed the role of Nvidia-powered computing in his Riyadh compound, told Huang that he was "grateful for everything that we've done to help him gain the export licenses"—a line Huang recalled as indicative of the goodwill built during this stretch of diplomacy. For Nvidia, the outcome helps sustain a multibillion-dollar revenue stream in regions pivotal to its growth strategy, even as it remains sensitive to the unpredictable pace of policy shifts in Washington.

The China question remains unsettled. While the current trajectory points toward a more permissive stance for select Nvidia products, Beijing’s broader push to cultivate domestic semiconductor self-sufficiency continues to complicate long-range forecasts for U.S. chipmakers. Nvidia has acknowledged that the China market has not recovered to pre-ban levels, and it remains vigilant about how policy changes could affect its relationships with customers and governments across Asia. In this environment, Huang’s emphasis on national security and economic vitality has taken on increased significance as policymakers weigh how best to preserve American leadership in AI hardware while avoiding a bifurcated global tech ecosystem.

As Nvidia navigates this delicate balance, Huang’s public posture remains one of measured optimism. He has described his company’s mission in stark terms: to build the most impactful technology the world has ever known, the chips that power the AI revolution. He has also underscored the personal balance he maintains—a high-profile role, a family life, and a reward system built on steady momentum rather than spectacle.

The net effect is a moment of rare alignment among corporate strategy, national security considerations, and political theater. The export-control concessions signal that the United States is not simply constraining technology from certain markets but actively shaping how those markets interact with American innovation. For Nvidia and Huang, the endgame is not only to maximize revenue but to preserve an open path for AI progress that remains tethered to American interests and values. If the current trend holds, the company will continue to push into new markets while urging policymakers to design controls that deter challenges to U.S. dominance without stifling invention. The broader implications for the AI economy, U.S.-China tech competition, and the geopolitical calculus around technology policy will unfold in the months ahead, as Nvidia’s chips continue to illuminate the frontier of artificial intelligence.