Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su have joined the advisory board of Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management (SEM), bringing two of the world’s most influential AI chip executives into a forum linking global business leaders with Chinese officials.
The school announced the appointments on 29 September.
Huang and Su are among three new members named to the board. The third is Marc Pictet, senior managing partner of Swiss wealth and asset manager Pictet Group. Chinese media reported the appointments, citing the school’s official WeChat account.
Five other executives have joined the board as successor members, replacing former representatives of their companies following leadership transitions. They are BMW Chairman Milan Nedeljković, Walmart President and CEO John Furner, Coca-Cola CEO Henrique Braun, General Atlantic Co-President Martín Escobari and bp CEO Meg O'Neill.
Huang founded Nvidia in 1993 and has served as president and CEO ever since. Su has been AMD's CEO since 2014 and added the title of chair in 2022. Under her leadership, AMD has expanded in high-performance computing and AI, becoming a major rival to Nvidia in the market for advanced AI chips.
The SEM advisory board is chaired by Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has held the post since 2019. Former Chinese vice president Wang Qishan serves as honorary chairman.
The board is a high-level forum connecting global executives with senior Chinese officials. Its 27th annual meeting is scheduled for 13-14 October in the Chinese capital, with the new appointments coming ahead of the gathering.
The appointments come at a sensitive moment for the industry. Nvidia and AMD are seeking to maintain access to China, one of the world's largest semiconductor markets, while adapting to increasingly complex restrictions imposed by both the U.S. and China.
The board remains a channel connecting multinational companies with China despite tensions over technology and investment between the two countries.
Semiconductor export controls did not feature prominently in the public readouts of the recent summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, and most of the restrictions remain in place. Huang attended a state dinner for Xi in Washington, a sign of how closely the Nvidia chief has been involved in broader U.S.-China engagement.
Huang's appointment to the SEM board had been widely expected. He had reportedly accepted an invitation to join earlier this year, following his trip to China in mid-May as part of Trump's delegation.
At the time, his move to formalise an advisory role at China's most prestigious university drew attention as another sign of cautious re-engagement between U.S. technology firms and the Chinese market.
For both companies, the appointments underline a balancing act. Each is keen to preserve its commercial presence in China, yet both operate under U.S. export rules that limit which advanced chips they can sell in the country, alongside measures imposed by Chinese authorities.
Whether the new board seats translate into any change in that landscape remains to be seen, but they give two of the industry's most influential leaders a regular seat at a table where Chinese policymakers and global business chiefs meet.
Read more:
An Australian television reporter and a bystander have rescued a man from a sinking vehicle during severe flooding in Queensland, pulling him...
The U.S. and Israeli militaries have developed plans for renewed strikes against Iran after the U.S. midterm elections, with preparations advancing...
Russian strikes on Kyiv overnight killed at least one person and injured 15 people, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwh...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Norway for talks about the Russia-Ukraine war. He is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who arrived in Oslo earlier. Witkoff will also meet European officials.
Russia is willing in principle to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the United States in November, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said after President Vladimir Putin met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said regional issues should be resolved through diplomacy and blamed the United States for insecurity and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, speaking at a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday.
Yemen's Houthis have denied targeting the holy city of Medina on Wednesday adding that they have not conducted any military operations towards Saudi Arabia either, denying earlier comments from the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
Israel's 27 October parliamentary election could reshape the country's political future, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing a serious challenge from former military chief Gadi Eisenkot and a potentially decisive battle over coalition-building.
An Australian television reporter and a bystander have rescued a man from a sinking vehicle during severe flooding in Queensland, pulling him to safety moments before the car disappeared beneath the water.
Russian strikes on Kyiv overnight killed at least one person and injured 15 people, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
Russia is willing in principle to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the United States in November, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said after President Vladimir Putin met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.
If you tried to visit a government website in Europe on Wednesday and found it down, you weren’t alone. Agencies across the continent pulled their sites offline after serious security flaws were discovered in PHP, the programming language quietly running behind most of the world’s websites.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to highlight his administration’s efforts to combat foreign criminal networks targeting Americans with fraudulent cryptocurrency investments at a White House event on Wednesday, a White House official told Reuters.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment