Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed on Tuesday his intention to visit Israel soon, underlining the firm’s objective of doubling its staff in the country from the current 5,000 employees.
The company, which six years ago bought the Israeli networking firm Mellanox in what ultimately turned out to be a game-changer that propelled NVIDIA to become a history-making $5 trillion company, recently announced a mega campus in Kiryat Tivon in northern Israel.
While he refrained from commenting on reports from last month that Nvidia is negotiating to purchase the Israeli company AI21 Labs, Huang expressed readiness for additional acquisitions.
“We might invest in, partner with, and we might, of course, acquire some semiconductor companies,” Huang said during the technology conference CES in Las Vegas, when taking questions from participants.
The CEO anticipates significant growth, pointing to broad demand for Nvidia’s portfolio.
“I’m fully expecting a really giant year for our business with TSMC,” Huang said, referencing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which produces the majority of Nvidia’s hardware, Reuters reported.
On Monday, the firm unveiled a sextet of new processors that it stated are in mass production to create the next “Vera Rubin” generation of AI computing structures, which is largely dependent on Israeli employees.
While CFO Colette Kress refused to say whether the company faces particular production obstacles during this ramp-up, she asserted that “we feel very solid” concerning the condition of the supply network, Reuters reported.
Nvidia has aimed for $500 billion in revenue from its current “Blackwell” generation and the forthcoming Vera Rubin chips by year’s end.
Kress noted that there have “already been discussions” with clients concerning data center construction for 2027, though she did not provide specific revenue forecasts, Reuters noted.
Earlier on Tuesday, Huang addressed the Chinese regulatory landscape, stating he does not expect a formal proclamation from Beijing allowing local firms to import the U.S. company’s H200 chips, but rather looks for proof in sales contracts, Reuters reported.
“My expectation is that we’re not expecting any press releases or any large declarations,” said Huang.
“It’s just going to be purchase orders. If the purchase orders come, it’s because they’re able to place purchase orders,” Huang told reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to Reuters.
Last year, President Donald Trump reversed a longstanding restriction on shipping advanced artificial intelligence chips to China, stating he would permit Nvidia to sell the H200, which preceded its current flagship “Blackwell” chips.
In an interview with a JPMorgan analyst earlier on Tuesday, Kress indicated that the U.S. government is “working feverishly” on license applications for Nvidia to ship its H200 chips to China, though the company remains uncertain about the timeline, Reuters reported.
“We’re going to wait and see what will happen,” Kress said regarding the applications.
At the press conference, Huang stated that Nvidia is accelerating H200 production for Chinese clients, according to Reuters.
“The customer demand is high—quite high,” said Huang. “We’ve fired up our supply chain, and H200s are flowing through the line.”
Replying to a Reuters inquiry about whether his relationship with Trump influenced Nvidia’s decisions concerning a deal for chip startup Groq—which received backing from 1789 Capital, a firm in which Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr is a partner—Huang stated he was unaware that 1789 Capital was a Groq investor.
“I didn’t know that,” Huang said. “I guess good for them, but I didn’t know that at all.”
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
