Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) pressed Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Friday about his upcoming trip to China, voicing concerns that the visit could legitimize companies working closely with the Chinese military or seeking to take advantage of gaps in U.S. export controls. <\/p>\n
The bipartisan senators urged Huang to refrain from meeting with companies doing business with the country’s military or intelligence, in addition to those that face U.S. export restrictions<\/a> or are suspected of trying to evade U.S. curbs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a new bipartisan consensus that the hardware powering advanced AI, which includes NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs), is of immense strategic importance,\u201d the pair wrote in Friday\u2019s letter<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf exported freely to the PRC [People\u2019s Republic of China], this hardware could accelerate the PRC’s efforts to modernize its military,\u201d they continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nvidia produces chips that have become central to powering the artificial intelligence (AI) boom<\/a>. However, some of its most advanced chips are subject to U.S. export controls.\u00a0<\/p>\n Huang is expected to travel to Beijing next week to meet with top Chinese leaders while at the International Supply Chain Expo, according to the Financial Times<\/a>. The trip comes as Nvidia reportedly plans to release a new chip for China designed to comply with the U.S. restrictions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope you agree that it would be deeply irresponsible for an American CEO to meet with companies that violate U.S. law and are actively developing military capabilities that could undermine U.S. national security,\u201d Warren and Banks added. \u201cWe ask that you refrain from any such meetings during your upcoming trip.\u201d <\/p>\n The duo this spring urged further review<\/a> of Nvidia’s plans to open a research facility in Shanghai, citing national and economic security worries.<\/p>\n The Nvidia CEO was spotted by reporters at the White House on Thursday, the same day the company became the first to close with a market capitalization<\/a> above $4 trillion. \u00a0<\/p>\n The chipmaker briefly crossed the milestone Wednesday morning, before dipping back down below $4 trillion. Nvidia, which first hit the $1 trillion mark just two years ago, has seen a remarkable rise<\/a> in recent years fueled by the AI craze.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) pressed Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Friday about his upcoming trip to China, voicing concerns that the visit could legitimize companies working<\/p>\n