Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang calls Chinese AI models “world class”, including the one ‘banned’ by the US government

Nvidia

CEO

Jensen Huang

described artificial intelligence models from Chinese firms as "world class" during a supply chain expo in Beijing, just one day after the US chipmaker announced it would resume sales of its popular

H20 AI chips

to China."Models like

DeepSeek

(the open-source model that was banned by the US), Alibaba, Tencent, MiniMax, and Baidu Ernie bot are world class, developed here and shared openly [and] have spurred AI developments worldwide,"

Huang

said at the opening ceremony of the third China International Supply Chain Expo.The praise comes as Nvidia navigates complex US-China trade tensions while maintaining its position in the crucial Chinese market. The company expects to resume H20 chip shipments to China soon following assurances from the US government, after being forced to halt sales in April due to new export requirements.

China's open-source AI approach wins Huang’s praise

Huang specifically lauded Chinese companies for embracing

open-source AI development

, contrasting with proprietary approaches taken by some US firms. "China's open-source AI is a catalyst for global progress, giving every country and industry a chance to join the AI revolution," he said.The CEO highlighted how more than 1.5 million developers in China currently build on Nvidia's technology, while noting that AI "powers" popular Chinese consumer apps including Tencent's WeChat, Alibaba's Taobao, ByteDance's Douyin, and Meituan's delivery services.

Chip sales resume amid easing trade restrictions

"I have been assured that the licenses will come very fast. There are many order books already in," Huang told the media on the sidelines of the expo, referring to the resumption of H20 chip sales.US Commerce Secretary

Howard Lutnick

said Tuesday that the planned resumption was part of broader US-China negotiations on rare earths exports. The development follows recent trade talks in London, where both countries began easing some high-tech export restrictions.This is Jensen Huang's third visit to China this year, and that underscores the market's importance for Nvidia despite ongoing trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.