Jensen Huang, co-founder of Nvidia, met with C.C. Wei during his visit to Taipei. Prior to that, he had visited offices in China. The CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, met with his counterpart at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. this week to discuss the supply problem with AI chips, which has become a major challenge for the artificial intelligence boom that began in 2023.

Leaders of the world's two most valuable chip manufacturers came together for dinner in Taipei, according to Huang, to discuss the role of the Taiwanese company as a producer of Nvidia chips, which now power the majority of generative AI training systems worldwide.

TSMC founder and prominent industry figure Morris Chang joined Huang and also attended the dinner with CEO C.C. Wei on Wednesday. Huang came to Taipei after having taken his first trip to mainland China in four years, at a time when the US has prohibited the shipment of Nvidia's high-performance chips to a geopolitical rival.

While Nvidia said little about this little noticed tour, Huang openly spoke about Taiwan and the crucial role of TSMC in Nvidia's business as well as in the entire semiconductor industry on Thursday.

"The biggest challenge in AI is, of course, to scale performance," said Huang before immersing himself in his company's annual New Year celebration on site. "That's why we are working very hard to keep up with demand, and TSMC and all our partners in the supply chain are very committed to it." "This year will be a huge year," he added. Huang declined to answer questions about his China business.

The Nvidia CEO has previously warned that an escalation of US sanctions, aimed at halting the flow of AI training chips to China, could lead to domestic companies developing their own alternatives. This could potentially harm long-term technological leadership positions in the US.

The billionaire named Huawei Technologies Co. as a potential competitor - which raised concerns in Washington in 2023 when it integrated an advanced processor manufactured in China into a smartphone. Nvidia, whose market value had more than tripled in 2023 due to its central role in AI development, gained an additional 24% this year as investors relied on its industry leadership.

The company has developed versions of its semiconductors for China that are intended to comply with US restrictions. The AI boom has supported TSMC's business. Last week, the company forecasted a potential increase in investments in capital assets and robust revenue growth, leading to a sector-wide stock rally.

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Huang acknowledged the island's most important industry on Thursday. "It is a rebirth of the computer industry, and that is why Taiwan is so central to it," he said. "TSMC, the ecosystem of Taiwanese system manufacturers, will all participate in this new era of computing."