In the midst of a US-China tech cold war and escalating export controls, Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang has quietly agreed to join the advisory board of Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management.
The board, currently chaired by Apple CEO Tim Cook, is one of the few elite forums that still brings together top American and Chinese business and academic leaders. Huang's low-key move underscores his efforts to maintain ties with China's political and business establishment, even as Nvidia's high-end AI chips are completely banned from sale in the country.
Founded in 2000 by former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, the Tsinghua advisory board boasts 65 global heavyweights, including Tesla's Elon Musk, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, and the heads of JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock. It holds an annual meeting in Beijing, providing a rare direct channel for multinational executives to engage with China's top policymakers, who have repeatedly met with the board's representatives.
Huang's decision comes as Nvidia faces an unprecedented squeeze in China. Due to escalating US chip restrictions, Nvidia's China-customized H20 chip was banned entirely last April, while imports of the more advanced H200 are also hampered by China's protective industrial policies.
Just last week, Huang publicly admitted that Nvidia has essentially handed the Chinese market over to local rivals like Huawei, and advised investors not to hold their breath for near-term regulatory approvals. Still, he emphasized that Nvidia has been deeply embedded in China for three decades, with a massive base of customers and partners, and is eager to serve the market again whenever possible.