Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made his debut on X with a public letter defending open-weight AI models and urging US policymakers not to impose sweeping restrictions on Chinese open-source technology. His first ever tweet is perceived as a provocative stance that puts the GPU kingpin at odds with Washington's intensifying crackdown on Beijing-linked AI.
In the post, Huang argued that US companies should "absolutely" be allowed to use Chinese open-source models, calling them "excellent" tools that drive competition rather than threaten national security. The letter, backed by a coalition of 25 technology companies including Microsoft, called on lawmakers to avoid what it termed "premature restrictions on open models that stifle innovation".
The intervention comes just two days after the White House accused China's Moonshot AI of stealing intellectual property from Anthropic, and as the Treasury threatens sanctions against Chinese AI firms. Huang's position is not entirely selfless, Nvidia's GPU business depends on demand from developers using all open-source models regardless of origin, and restricting access to Chinese models could shrink the addressable market for Nvidia's data center chips.
Still, his willingness to publicly challenge the prevailing DC consensus signals a rift between Silicon Valley's commercial interests and Washington's security-first approach to AI governance.