Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang issued a stark warning: continued U.S. restrictions on semiconductor exports to China could pave the way for Huawei to take control of the AI landscape domestically—and possibly gain a foothold in global dominance.

Speaking to CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal at the Viva Technology conference, Huang acknowledged Nvidia’s technological edge, saying, “our technology is a generation ahead,” yet added a warning: “If the United States doesn’t want to partake in China, Huawei has got China covered, and Huawei has got everybody else covered.”

Export controls instituted under the Biden and Trump administrations currently bar Nvidia from selling its cutting-edge H20 chips into China. Huang has repeatedly argued these restrictions have backfired — accelerating China’s own chip development and shrinking Nvidia’s market share in what could become a $50 billion AI opportunity.

The fallout has been significant: Nvidia reported a $5.5 billion Q1 charge, and estimates another $15 billion in revenue lost due to restricted sales. Huang warns not selling to China may normalize usage of non-American AI stacks globally — undermining U.S. technological leadership.

In response, Nvidia is doubling down on domestic resilience — including opening an R&D center in Shanghai to maintain presence and fine-tune lower-tier chips like the L20.

For Huang, this is both a business case and a geopolitical one: losing China means ceding global standard setting. As he said at Milken: missing this $50 billion market would be akin to losing “not a plane—but the entire Boeing.”