Ahead of Xi Visit, Warren Presses Trump to Confirm Nvidia CEO Will Not Be at the Negotiating Table

Ahead of Xi Visit, Warren Presses Trump to Confirm Nvidia CEO Will Not Be at the Negotiating Table

"I ask you to confirm that NVIDIA billionaire CEO Jensen Huang will not be at the negotiating table when you meet with President Xi next week and, instead, to use your upcoming talks to insist that China impose restrictions to prevent the most dangerous uses of advanced AI."

Last week, Mr. Huang stated in an interview on AI, "We don't need any new laws. We don't need new regulations."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote to President Donald Trump, requesting confirmation that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang will not be at the negotiating table with Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, arrives in the United States for a state visit later this week. Leaders in the AI industry are now acknowledging that their technologies could threaten the safety and security of the American people and others around the world, but their suggestions on what to do about it are transparently self-serving. Last week, Mr. Huang stated in an interview, "We don't need any new laws. We don't need new regulations."

Warren's request comes in light of President Trump's decisions to prioritize the interests of the AI industry over those of the American people. In recent days, Trump has dismissed the apparent risks of AI as a "hoax," rejecting calls for commonsense safety guardrails and decrying them as a "sick conspiracy." The Trump administration has also greenlit the export of chips to China, empowering the country's efforts to develop advanced AI and simultaneously jeopardizing America's national security.

"I write with significant concern about the risk that you will double down on your dangerous approach to artificial intelligence (AI) in your upcoming talks with Xi Jinping, the President of the People's Republic of China," wrote Ranking Member Warren. "I ask you to confirm that NVIDIA billionaire CEO Jensen Huang will not be at the negotiating table when you meet with President Xi next week and, instead, to use your upcoming talks to insist that China impose restrictions to prevent the most dangerous uses of advanced AI."

The Ranking Member's letter underscores the need to prevent Mr. Huang from influencing AI safety regulations, especially in negotiations with China's President Xi.

"Experts in your own Administration and officials across the political spectrum have rung the alarm about the danger your lax approach to export controls poses to the American people," continued the Ranking Member. "But you seem to have brushed them aside after Mr. Huang and NVIDIA made a concerted effort to curry favor with you - donating $1 million to your inauguration, contributing to your gold-encrusted ballroom, and attending a $1 million-per-plate dinner at Mar-a-Lago."

"The American people deserve to hear Mr. Huang answer hard questions - from both sides - about the role he has played in undermining our national security. He has refused to testify in public and under oath, but we will call him before Congress next year," Ranking Member Warren concluded.

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