
Nvidia's Jensen Huang thinks U.S. chip curbs failed — and he's not alone
U.S. chip restrictions on the sale of advanced semiconductor technology, especially those used in artificial intelligence, have been rolled out over several years, with the initial aim of curbing China's military advancement and protecting US dominance in the AI industry.
However, according to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, U.S. semiconductor export controls on China have been "a failure," causing more harm to American businesses than to China.
While the goals of cutting back the Chinese military's access to advanced U.S. technology and maintaining U.S. leadership in AI appear to have had some success on paper, loopholes and existing semiconductor stockpiles in China have complicated these aims, said Ray Wang, an independent tech and chip analyst with a focus on U.S.-China competition.
"That's partly why we are seeing a closing of the gap between Chinese and U.S. AI capabilities," added Wang.
Leaders of Nvidia and other American chip designers have long lobbied against chip controls as they worry about losing lucrative business deals. Huang said at the annual Computex technology trade show in Taipei that Nvidia's GPU market share in China fell to 50% from 95% over the past four years.
Indeed, chip experts say that the curbs create more harm than good for the U.S.
"The effects of the controls are twofold. They have the impact of reducing the ability of U.S. companies to access the China market and, in turn, have accelerated the efforts of the domestic industry to pursue greater innovation," said Paul Triolo, Partner and Senior VP for China at DGA Group.
"You create competitors to your leading companies at the same time you're cutting them off from a massive market in China," he added.
While Washington's most comprehensive export controls were passed during former U.S. President Joe Biden's term in the White House, curbs on Huawei and SMIC, China's largest chipmaker, go back to Donald Trump's first term in office.
On April 15, Nvidia disclosed that new controls, which restricted sales of its H20 graphics processing units to China, had led to a $5.5 billion charge against its revenue.
The restrictions are expected to be a boon for the demand and development of local Nvidia alternatives like Huawei, which is working on its own AI chips. They also come against the background of Beijing mobilizing billions as part of its chip self-sufficiency campaign.
"The bottom line is, the controls have incentivized China to become self-sufficient across these supply chains in a way they never would have contemplated before," Triolo said.
Chinese AI-related achievements, such as DeepSeek's R1 model and news of Huawei chip progress, have led observers to question the effectiveness of chip controls.
According Wang, the independent analyst, China's semiconductor and AI space has seen an acceleration of startups, market opportunities, and AI talent alongside the restrictions, which has clearly resulted in domestic innovations.
"I think the arguments that export controls accelerate innovation is quite valid," Wang said.
Nivida's Haung also noted these trends in April, telling lawmakers in Washington that the country has made enormous progress in the last several years and is right behind the U.S.
Nvidia's H20 chip was designed specifically to comply with existing chip controls prior to the clampdown on exports.
"We are not just talking about one export control, we are talking about a series of export controls that originate from all the way back in 2019," said Wang, noting that the evolving policies have had a couple of different objectives.
Meanwhile, in what DGA's Paul Trilio calls a "moving of the goalposts," it seems that the aims of the restrictions have shifted to an intention to slow down and contain Chinese AI and semiconductor developments.
"The continued expansion of the controls, and the lack of an articulation of what the clear end game here is, has really created a lot of issues, and created a lot of collateral damage," Trilio said, adding that it has led more people to question the policy.
In a statement earlier this month, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a U.S. think tank which has received funding from various technology companies, said in a post that "the Biden administration's export control policy for AI chips has largely been a failure since day one. Yet, year after year, it has doubled down, attempting to plug various loopholes."
"While [the U.S. government] is certainly right to prevent U.S. companies from selling advanced AI technology to the Chinese military, cutting U.S. companies off from the entire commercial Chinese market is a cure worse than the disease," Stephen Ezell of ITIF told CNBC in an email.
"U.S. export controls have cost NVIDIA at least $15 billion in sales, and those are revenues the company needs to be able to earn to invest in future generations of innovation."
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Los Angeles Times
9 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump plays golf in Scotland while protesters take to the streets and decry his visit
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Chicago Tribune
9 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
The House is looking into the Epstein investigation. Here's what could happen next
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Forbes
10 minutes ago
- Forbes
Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 Regains Foldable Throne After Years
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is so thin Ben Sin Over a 12-month stretch between 2019 and 2020, Samsung invented the foldable phone industry that we know today. In 2019, it was the South Korean tech giant which released the first functional, useable foldable phone (I had to add the descriptive caveats because a now-bankrupted Chinese company named Royole had rushed out a foldable phone before Samsung, but it was only sold in China and did not operate too well), and then a year later, Samsung also released the first flip phone style compact foldable. Fold 7 in the hand Ben Sin But while Samsung pioneered the tech, Chinese brands soon took that idea and began engineering superior foldable hardware. Starting in 2021, when Huawei released the Mate X2, all the way to last year, when Oppo released the Find N5, Chinese foldable phones were flat out superior in hardware in almost every way that mattered: they were thinner, lighter, with bigger batteries, bigger camera sensors, and screens with a less prominent crease at the folding point. Samsung's 2022 foldable, Fold 4 (left) next to Xiaomi's 2022 foldable (right). Look at the difference in thickness. Yet Xiaomi's foldable had a larger battery and better cameras. Ben Sin It took a few years, but Samsung has finally stepped up, and its new Galaxy Z Fold 7 features hardware that more than catches up — and even surpasses — the competition. Significantly thinner compared to last generation The new Fold 7 (left) next to the Fold 6 Ben Sin The biggest change to the Fold 7 is that it has slimmed down drastically. Last year's Fold 6 measured 12.2mm thick when folded. This year's Fold 7 measures just 8.9mm, which is either the number one or two thinnest in the industry right now (Honor is claiming to be thinner at 8.8mm but there have been some disputes). The three latest foldable phones right now Ben Sin If you compare the Fold 7 just against previous Samsung foldables, the new thinness is absolutely jaw-dropping. The phone is also much lighter, at 217g, compared to 239g last year. From worst crease to arguably best crease Samsung's Fold 7 also reduces the display crease at the folding point. The crease is still noticeable if you actively look for it, but it is not as deep or jarring as previous generations of Samsung foldables. Fold 7 screen Ben Sin The method by which Samsung used to reduce the crease appears to be the exact same method Chinese brands have been using for years: allowing a small amount of space in the hinge for the screen to fold in a curved form instead of a straight fold. (The below marketing image is from Chinese brands OPPO/OnePlus, but Samsung's hinge uses this same mechanism to reduce the crease). This is a marketing image released by OPPO/OnePlus for its foldable phone two years ago. But Samsung's hinge now uses this same mechanism. OnePlus But to my eyes, Samsung's Fold 7 crease is even less noticeable (shallower) than the crease in all my other Chinese foldable phones. I feel like the crease in my Honor Magic V5 and Vivo X Fold 5 (both just as new as the Fold 7), has slightly deeper grooves at the folding point. In other words, Samsung's crease went from the worst in the industry to the best. This isn't new tech, however I need to make clear here that almost every improvement the Fold 7 has made -- slimming down, reducing crease -- are not new tech, and in fact, Samsung is merely catching up to the Chinese competition. For me, who has seen all the latest Chinese foldables, the Fold 7 makes me think "about time" more than "wow this is so amazing." Fold 7 in the hand Ben Sin However, Chinese foldables are not available worldwide (they're virtually non-existent in North America and South Korea). So for people who have only seen Samsung's foldables in the past, the Fold 7 will appear very, very impressive to them. Other bits make the Fold 7 the most polished foldable Fold 7 in folded form Ben Sin In addition to the new slimdown and display, the Fold 7 brings back the best-in-class hinge (which has always been a strength of Samsung foldables). The Fold 7 is also powered by a special edition of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite that's a bit over-clocked, so it is technically the most powerful silicon in the Android realm right now. Add all these things together, and one can make a case that the Samsung Fold 7 hardware is the best in the industry. This was something I could not say from 2021 to 2024. The camera system of the Fold 7, however, are just solid, but unremarkable. There's a new 200-megapixel main camera that can grab some good looking images, but the 10-megapixel 3X zoom lens is dated, and falls behind the Periscope cameras offered by Chinese competition. The 12-megapixel ultrawide is solid if shooting under good lighting scenarios. Overall, Samsung's camera system is fine for a foldable, but does fall behind Vivo's last two generation of foldable cameras. Fold 7 Ben Sin Battery capacity is also on the low side compared to the competition, at 4,400 mAh. Other foldables, like the Honor Magic V5 or Vivo X Fold 5, pack batteries north of 5,500 mAh in a similar form factor. That's because Chinese brands use a new battery tech known as silicon carbon that is more energy-dense. Samsung has so far avoided using this new battery tech. Considering Samsung's past history with batteries, it is understandable why the company is cautious, but I do need to point out Chinese foldables have been using these batteries for two years and I have not heard any reports of them malfunctioning. Still, the Fold 7 battery life should be enough to last an average Joe all day. I am a heavy user who is always outside (I do not work a 9-5, and I do not like to sit at home), and this phone could still last me about 10 hours of use. For a less active person, who's stuck in the office 8-9 hours a day, or who drives everywhere, the Fold 7 will be able to finish their entire day with enough juice to spare. The Fold 7 is a hit at home in Korea, and will be worldwide Reports out of South Korea show the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a major hit in its home country, as it has shattered Samsung's pre-order records. And I think the Fold 7 will have similar success worldwide (maybe except inside China, where Samsung has almost no market presence). Fold 7's outside screen next to the Fold 6. Ben Sin Despite Chinese foldables being clearly superior the past few years, various factors (some out of their control) have prevented Chinese foldables from reaching mainstream appeal. Samsung's superior brand power, marketing, and physical retail presence has kept its outdated foldables the last couple years afloat; now that Samsung actually has up-to-date, bleeding edge hardware? I expect the Fold 7 to be a hit from U.K. to Germany, Hong Kong to Singapore. As a tech reviewer, I must still say: about time, Samsung. Now let's not wait four years until your next hardware push.