Nvidia’s China AI Market Share Falls to Zero as Jensen Huang Says U.S. Export Controls Backfired

The U.S. Commerce Department began tightening restrictions on exports of advanced AI chips to China in October 2022 and imposed a licensing requirement on Nvidia’s H20 in April 2025. Nvidia consequently recorded a $4.5 billion charge in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. China had been an important growth market for the company, while the restrictions also affect the influence of the CUDA ecosystem and U.S. technology standards.

Jensen Huang said at a Citadel Securities event in New York on October 16, 2025, that Nvidia’s share of China’s AI accelerator market had fallen from about 95% to zero. Despite the pressure on revenue, he maintained that neither Blackwell nor Rubin should be shipped to China. He also warned that the blockade would prompt Chinese companies to accelerate development of their own chips and software stacks.