NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang arrives at a Korean barbecue restaurant for a dinner with SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin on June 5, 2026 in Seoul, South Korea.
Chris John | Null Photo | Getty Images
Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang told shareholders Wednesday that the company will prioritize U.S. interests when commercial opportunities conflict with U.S. national security.
“National security comes first,” Huang said in a session immediately after the annual general meeting.
He added that if a company wanted to smuggle NVIDIA chips or systems into a country with export restrictions, such as China, it would be difficult to make it work because NVIDIA would not provide support or repairs.
“Advanced AI data centers are large-scale, integrated systems that require reliable hardware, software, networking, and ongoing support,” said Huang. “Trying to bulk up data centers with smuggled products is a dead end.”
Fan’s comments come as regulators in Washington and the Trump administration are increasingly concerned that exporting AI software and hardware to China and other countries poses a threat to national security.
Earlier this month, Anthropic, which uses NVIDIA chips, shut down Fable 5 and Mythos 5 after the U.S. government ordered it to disable access to its latest models.
Nvidia’s chips are subject to export restrictions starting in 2022, forcing the company to produce China-specific chips for the region that comply with U.S. government benchmarks. But last year, the United States allowed exports of the company’s H200 chip, the same model used by American companies, to the region.
Huang said that although the U.S. government has approved these licenses, NVIDIA has not yet generated revenue from the chips and it is unclear whether China will allow imports of the company’s products. About 9% of Nvidia’s fiscal 2026 revenue will come from China, including Hong Kong, a smaller percentage than in 2025 or 2024.
Huang told shareholders that the question of AI’s return on investment has been “answered.”
He said there are benefits when the AI output is useful, such as by generating code and then manipulating Nvidia systems to generate tokens (bits of AI output), which means companies need more computing power. He noted that GitHub has generated nearly three times as many pull requests this year thanks to AI.
“Nvidia systems may not have the cheapest purchase price, but Nvidia produces the lowest cost tokens, highest token throughput, and highest revenue,” Huang said.
He reiterated that Nvidia plans to return 50% of its free cash flow to investors through stock buybacks and dividends over the next few years.
Nvidia generated more than $96 billion in free cash flow in fiscal 2026.
“NVIDIA offers investors a unique combination of exceptional growth, high profitability, free cash flow execution, and enhanced capital returns,” said Huang.
At the annual general meeting, shareholders approved the company’s executive remuneration plan in an advisory capacity and re-elected all 10 members of the board of directors. There was one independent shareholder proposal to change the company’s articles of association so that a vote of all shareholders would pass by a simple majority.
