Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says China excels in AI research

Jensen Huang has a talent theory, and it does not flatter Washington. The Nvidia CEO says China can scale its AI research workforce better than any other country. He framed it as a manufacturing story, applied to the people who build the models, not the chips. Speaking with Yahoo Finance at GTC Berlin in October 2026, Huang said nearly half of the world’s AI researchers are of Chinese origin. His summary was blunt. “Nobody manufactures AI researchers like China does.” What Huang actually said Huang’s argument went beyond headcount. He pointed to Chinese strength across three fronts: researchers, chip production, and the development of open AI models. He described China as a formidable competitor to the United States in AI. That framing matters, because it treats the race as a contest between peers rather than a leader and a fast follower. Huang did not stop at diagnosis. He called on the US to keep working to attract talent from around the world. He also urged continued dialogue between the US and China on AI safety risks. The numbers behind the claim Huang’s estimate lines up with recent research. A September 2026 analysis from the Carnegie Endowment tracked elite AI talent throug...