Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, has become a key informal intermediary between Washington and Beijing, navigating the high-stakes tension over AI chip access and export controls. With Nvidia dominating over 80% of the global AI chip market, its technology is critical to both US and Chinese national priorities. Huang reportedly helped influence the Trump administration to ease restrictions on Nvidia’s H20 chip exports to China, despite geopolitical risks.

This case highlights a deeper trend: US mega tech firms are becoming central players in national security strategy, blurring lines between government policy and corporate interests.

As Nvidia evolves into a full-stack AI and cloud provider, it becomes both a strategic asset and a point of vulnerability. The H20 decision reflects the increasing weight of corporate lobbying in US foreign policy, and the growing bifurcation of global tech ecosystems along geopolitical lines.

In a move that could reshape the global AI race, Chinese startup DeepSeek has unveiled a powerful large language model (LLM) said to rival ChatGPT — and it may have done so without relying on high-end Nvidia chips. Instead, DeepSeek leveraged open-source AI and a cost-effective fine-tuning process to build its model, signalling a potential shift in the balance of technological power.

Beyond the technology, the implications are profound. DeepSeek’s success challenges long-held assumptions about the AI-semiconductor nexus and could weaken the strategic grip of US-led tech controls. As the world divides into three geopolitical tech blocs, DeepSeek’s emergence offers new pathways for middle-tier nations and threatens to upend existing power dynamics in the ongoing US–China chip war.

Read the full analysis to explore what DeepSeek means for AI, national security, and the future of global tech leadership.