Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has reportedly joined a prominent advisory board of a top university in Beijing – his latest step to cultivate close ties with China despite the country’s tense relationship with the Trump administration.
Huang, 63, will serve on the advisory board of Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management, the Financial Times reported, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Tsinghua is considered one of China’s most prestigious universities, with Chinese President Xi Jinping among its alumni.
The school has built major connections to the US tech and finance industries. Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook serves as chairman of the advisory board, members of which also include SpaceX boss Elon Musk, Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
Representatives for Nvidia and Tsinghua University did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment.
News of Huang’s appointment drew strong condemnation from Laura Loomer, a close ally of President Trump, who wrote on X that Huang’s role at Tsinghua was a “national security threat.”
Loomer pointed to Huang’s role on Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology while alleging that Tsinghua serves as the “primary incubator for China’s top [Communist Party] leadership and a central hub for advanced defense and dual-use technological research.”
Replying to Loomer’s post, Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said he was “going to look into this.”
Huang is one of many tech luminaries who joined Trump during his recent trip to China for diplomatic talks.
Nvidia is currently barred from selling its most powerful computer chips to China due to strict US export controls, but the Trump administration removed some restrictions on the sale of less-powerful versions of the tech earlier this year – so long as the company meets certain standards.
Huang has aggressively lobbied to loosen export controls to China and recently described the Chinese market as “very important” to Nvidia’s business.
Meanwhile, officials in Beijing have yet to grant Nvidia approval for the sales as they look to jumpstart domestic chip production.
“We would be more than delighted to serve the market,” Huang said during a recent appearance on CNBC. “We have a lot of customers there, we have a lot of partners there, and we’ve been there for 30 years.”
