Jensen Huang's Tsinghua Role: Acting as a Bridge Through His Position

On September 29, Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management announced that its advisory committee had added three new members this year, including NVIDIA (NVDA) founder and CEO Jensen Huang. The outcome was not surprising. As early as May this year, media outlets had cited informed sources reporting that Huang would join this advisory committee, and the official announcement now marks the final confirmation of the matter.

As the founder and CEO of NVIDIA (NVDA), one of the world's most valuable companies and a global chip leader, Huang should not be absent from the Tsinghua SEM advisory committee. After all, this committee is a top-level platform for dialogue between China and the global business community. Over its 26 years of existence, it has brought together chairmen of renowned multinational corporations, deans of world-class university business schools, and Nobel laureates in economics. The committee's mission is to help the school become a world-class school of economics and management while building a channel for intellectual exchange in the fields of Chinese and foreign economics, management, and industry.

Clearly, such an exchange platform needs Huang, and Huang also needs this "Tsinghua identity." Against the backdrop of intensifying geopolitical rivalry over global AI (artificial intelligence) chips, Huang's invitation to join the committee has implicitly made him a special bridge between the Chinese and American technology industries—one that combines commercial interests, industrial rationality, and practical value. Huang has in fact been working hard to build this bridge of communication.

In January this year, he appeared at a vegetable market in Shanghai's Lujiazui area, signing autographs for vendors, handing out red envelopes, and smiling for photos amid the crowds. In May, he visited Nanluoguxiang in Beijing, tasting zhajiangmian, drinking Mixue Bingcheng beverages, and even trying douzhi. He has consistently tried to project an approachable, down-to-earth image of someone deeply immersed in everyday city life. This is somewhat puzzling. As early as October last year, Huang stated that due to U.S. government export controls, NVIDIA (NVDA)'s market share in China's high-end AI chips had dropped from 95% to 0%, "100% leaving" one of the world's largest markets. Even though the H200 chip obtained case-by-case export approval earlier this year, the company's August earnings report showed that this portion of China revenue accounted for less than 1% of NVIDIA (NVDA)'s total data center revenue—a very limited volume.

Given this, why does Huang continue to work hard to draw closer to the Chinese market and cultivate a sense of affinity? The answer lies in acting as a bridge through his position. To some extent, the lower NVIDIA (NVDA)'s market share in China's high-end chips, the more he needs to build this bridge to ease the divide between the Chinese and American technology industries.

First, this is of course based on NVIDIA (NVDA)'s own interests. Beyond the real market pie, what matters more is the concern about its ecosystem. NVIDIA (NVDA)'s foundation is not just chip hardware but the CUDA (a general-purpose parallel computing platform and programming model launched by NVIDIA (NVDA)) developer ecosystem. China has one of the world's largest groups of AI engineers and is one of the most important sources of global AI innovation. Once the Chinese and American computing power systems become completely decoupled and Chinese developers shift entirely to domestic chips and software stacks, CUDA's long-term appeal will continue to weaken. Only by keeping global developers, including Chinese developers, using the American technology stack can the U.S. AI industry maintain its global leadership over the long term.

In this regard, Huang has a longer-term consideration. Over the past two years, he has continued to speak in the American public opinion arena, repeatedly reminding policymakers that export controls are producing counterproductive effects. He said bluntly that even without NVIDIA (NVDA) chips, relying on abundant energy and a massive number of engineers, China can still build sufficient computing power through stacked domestic chips, and that blockades will only accelerate the self-reliance of its domestic computing ecosystem. In an interview with CNBC, he frankly acknowledged that NVIDIA (NVDA) has "basically already handed that market over to Chinese companies." This is also something he deeply regrets.

Regarding China-U.S. technology industry competition, Huang holds a relatively open attitude. He believes that "genuine dialogue" between Chinese and American AI researchers is "crucial"; AI competition should not fall into a "threat narrative," and long-term industrial leadership "should not depend on restricting global competitors." He opposes the United States banning Chinese AI models, saying the market first misunderstood DeepSeek and then misunderstood Kimi. Facing some voices in Washington that characterize model distillation as "theft," his judgment is very clear: this is a matter of market competition. In his view, the essence of AI technological iteration is mutual learning, and competition is the driving force of industrial progress. Undoubtedly, the healthy development of the Chinese and American technology industries requires a bridge of communication above competition.

Of course, Huang also has limitations he cannot transcend. He calls for keeping market channels open, but he cannot break through the red lines of U.S. export controls. On frontier flagship chips, he agrees to comply with U.S. technology restrictions. Therefore, he is not opposed to controls, but opposed to one-size-fits-all, total isolation. Or more specifically, he opposes removing the "planks" of NVIDIA (NVDA)'s bridge to the Chinese market.

Now, the new "Tsinghua identity" has become one of the "planks" Huang uses to build this bridge. Relying on this platform, he can enter the classroom and discuss the underlying logic of the AI industry with Chinese youth and entrepreneurs, convey an industry perspective, and understand China's long-term choices. Interestingly, in March this year, Huang was appointed by Trump to join the U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The two advisory roles reflect the special label value embodied by Huang: standing within two systems, trying to preserve more possibilities for exchange against the backdrop of industrial competition.

The value of a bridge is not to erase differences, but to enable mutual exchange and mutual hearing even when the two sides have enormous disagreements. The greatest symbolic significance of Huang's "Tsinghua identity" may lie precisely in this.