Arm CEO Rene Haas has joined Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in criticizing U.S. export controls of AI semiconductors to China, a move he says could slow the overall advance of the technology, impacting both consumers and industry players, as reported by Bloomberg.
Speaking at the Founders Forum Global conference in Oxford, Haas said, "If you narrow access to technology and you force other ecosystems to grow up, it’s not good... It makes the pie smaller, if you will. And frankly, it’s not very good for consumers." He also touched on Arm's footprint in China, noting the company's presence is "quite significant."
Washington enacted curbs on the exports of data center processors to China in April, a measure that has reportedly cost Nvidia $8 billion and has largely shut it out of the market.
In May, Huang branded Trump's export controls "a failure," and warned they were having the opposite effect on the market as intended. Rather than stifling China's growth in AI to give the U.S. an advantage, Huang postulated that the ban was pushing Chinese rivals, including Huawei, to accelerate growth and innovation in AI, ultimately leading to more competitive offerings. He lamented that due to the ban, which directly affects its H200 chip, Nvidia had had to write off the equivalent of a semiconductor company from its bottom line.
Continuing his own lobbying efforts, Haas revealed he has spent "far more time in Washington in the last year and a half than I have in my entire career," but admitted that the current administrationt has "a lot of smart people who are who are connected to our industry," adding that he thought Arm's voice was being heard.
He also gave a nod to Huang, describing him as a fierce competitor and a fast innovator. This week at VivaTech in Paris, Huang warned that if AI chip restrictions continue, Huawei will take advantage, stating "our technology is a generation ahead of theirs," but warned that "If the United States doesn’t want to partake, participate in China, Huawei has got China covered, and Huawei has got everybody else covered."
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