Nvidia will build AI supercomputers for the US Department of Energy and wants to return to the Chinese market, Reuters reports, writes UNN.
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"Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang arrived in Washington on Tuesday with a message for the Trump administration: the US can win the AI battle if the whole world, including the huge developer base in China, uses Nvidia systems," the publication says.
Huang, in a speech at Nvidia's first developer conference, said that the leader in AI chip manufacturing will build seven new supercomputers for the US Department of Energy and has $500 billion in orders for advanced chips, but also expressed regret that the Chinese government has blocked his access to its market.
"We want America to win this AI race. There's no doubt about that," Huang said. "We want the world to be built on the American technology stack. Absolutely right. But we also need to be present in China to win over their developers. A policy that leads to America losing half of the world's AI developers is not beneficial in the long run, it does more harm to us."
Huang said his company has not applied for US export licenses to supply its latest chips to China due to Beijing's stance. "They've made it clear that they don't want Nvidia there right now," he said at a press conference during the GTC developer event. "Hopefully, that will change in the future, because, to me, China is a very important market."
Huang also praised US President Donald Trump while announcing new products and deals. These include networking technologies that will allow Nvidia's AI-powered chips to work with quantum computers, a telecommunications deal with Finland's Nokia, and self-driving car technologies with Uber and Stellantis.
"The supercomputers that Nvidia is developing for the US Department of Energy will partly help the United States maintain and develop its nuclear arsenal," the publication says.
Supercomputers will also be used to research alternative energy sources, such as nuclear fusion. The largest supercomputer for the Department of Energy will be built using Oracle technologies and will contain 100,000 Nvidia Blackwell chips, the publication writes.
"Supporting the growth of the energy industry at the national level has completely changed the game," Huang said. "If that hadn't happened, we could be in a difficult situation, and I want to thank President Trump for that."
Blake Anderson, deputy portfolio manager at Carson Group, estimated that one of the supercomputers, dubbed Solstice, could be equipped with Nvidia chips worth about $3-4 billion. However, since federal customers are likely to receive discounts, prices could range from $30,000 to $40,000, as is typical for Blackwell chips, Anderson added.
Nvidia shares closed up 5% at $201.03 on Tuesday.