Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei issued a stark warning at the World Economic Forum in Davos, comparing the potential sale of advanced Nvidia H200 AI chips to China to "selling nuclear weapons to North Korea." His comments come as the Trump administration, which returned to office in 2025, has begun relaxing a U.S. ban on exporting high-end semiconductors to China, a policy originally designed to prevent Beijing from acquiring U.S. technology for military AI development.
Amodei, speaking live to an audience of world leaders and CEOs, argued that lifting the embargo would be a "big mistake" and a massive national security risk. He warned that while China is currently behind in high-level AI development, the chip embargo is the primary reason, and removing it would allow them to catch up rapidly. This was his second such warning at Davos, having expressed fears of "1984 scenarios, or worse" the previous year.
The policy shift clears the way for Nvidia to sell its H200 processors directly to Chinese buyers. While released over two years ago, the H200 remains one of the most powerful AI chips Nvidia can legally export, as its newer Blackwell and Vera Rubin series are still blocked. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang expressed optimism for 2026, citing demand from Chinese firms and deals with Anthropic. Wall Street forecasts project Nvidia's revenue to hit $321.2 billion this year, a 57% increase.
Competition is intensifying, with AMD seeking approval to sell its MI325X chip in China. The debate was underscored by Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, who noted the AI gap between China and the West might be narrower than believed, potentially as little as six months behind the cutting edge. This follows the market shock caused last year by Chinese firm DeepSeek, which released a model rivaling OpenAI's ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost, temporarily erasing nearly $1 trillion from U.S. and European tech valuations.
Meanwhile, global investment in advanced computing continues to surge. Nvidia CFO Colette Kress indicated at a JPMorgan event that the $500 billion data center market is expanding, hinting that global investment could reach multiple trillions by 2030.
