Partner & Chair, Digital Practice @TheAsiaGroup | Faculty @HKUniversity, Schwarzman @Tsinghua_Uni, @NCCU1927 | @Yale World Fellow, @Salzburg Global Fellow
HKG, TPE, SHA, or 35,000 ft
Joined August 2008
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George Chen retweeted
I have a particularly nasty case of cancer. When I was hospitalized again at my lowest point last year, I told Jensen. He immediately reached out to contacts at Stanford, who were able to cut through red tape, and get me into a clinical trial for which I've turned out to be a perfect fit. I think everyone can have their own views about recent events. But any claims that Jensen did not really care about his staff is simply inaccurate. I, personally, owe him more than I can express.
I think the best tribute we can pay to Jensen's legacy is to drive NVIDIA's continued success and push the whole industry forward, by showing we've learned the lessons from years of working here. We will compare ourselves against Speed of Light. The mission will be the boss. And we will not be scared to take smart, bold risks and fail fast with ruthless intellectual honesty.
But if there is one management story I remember the most, it's a particular Jensen grilling from my time in autonomous vehicles that stayed with me. Luckily I was not in the hot seat for this one. Team A didn't want to use Team B's framework, because they thought it was too slow. Jensen was surprised - it's just applying a bunch of optimized CUDA kernels in sequence, how could it be slow?
So he asked the executive from team B to draw the entire data flow sequence from their framework on the whiteboard and highlight every memcpy. Sure enough, there were a bunch of unnecessary memcpy's surrounding each pipeline stage. Everyone in the room could see why it wasn't getting to SoL and a path to improve things. No arguing about fiefdoms or appeals to authority - the data got us all on the same page.
The lesson was not (just) that unnecessary memory copying is bad. It's that executives should not be afraid to probe into details if something doesn't add up, and leaders need to be technical enough and honest enough to engage in real time and not turn every meeting into "I'll get back to you in a week." If that means counting memcpy's with a billionaire CEO, so be it.
My best executive meetings at NVIDIA have been when I'm fully prepared to present every detail of my team's work, and my worst failures have come when I realized I couldn't go deep enough to really solve the problem.
But the thing that gives me confidence is that Jensen was never the only one to live this philosophy. Anyone who has presented to an SVP at NVIDIA knows they are at risk for getting grilled on fundamental constraints and technical details. I have been part of amazing conversations with both recent and old timer leaders where we were able to get to the core of a problem in an hour rather than a month, because we had the right people in the room and were not afraid to go deeper.
The company is filled with supremely talented people who have been trained for 3 decades to work at the highest level, and you can see it in what we produce every day. I'm so proud to be an NVIDIAn, and I can't wait to show off what we ship in the coming months and years.
George Chen retweeted
Ted Plafker was one of the nicest guys in Beijing. He bought me three beers in a row in the bookworm when I’d just arrived and gave me good advice. He will be missed
I was deeply shocked to learn of the passing of Ted Plafker. He was the first foreign correspondent I met, and he was also the person who introduced me to my later employer, the New York Times. Through him, I opened the door to the world of international reporting and benefited greatly. RIP. Although the Economist's reports are not bylined, I know that its coverage of China in those years could not conceal his talent.
George Chen retweeted
Days before Christmas 2023, I emailed Jensen after an investor pulled out last minute. We didn’t have cash for payroll, and I was talking with bankruptcy lawyers.
Jensen called me at 6am. Later that day, I was having dinner with his team to bridge the company. Four months later, we rang the NASDAQ bell for our IPO.
In June @NaderLikeLadder emailed Jensen about a crazy idea we had over dinner to make Local AI 10x better on NVIDIA hardware.
Jensen replied in 7 minutes. He saw this as important work, and approved a war room for us to work on this at NVIDIA HQ.
For a month, NVIDIA HQ was the @exolabs satellite office. We were overwhelmed by the support we got. We were back to back the first week with smart NVIDIANs coming in to our war room to help us. Creators of CUDA, Dynamo, people who built NVIDIA.
Long story short with NVIDIA we managed to improve their Local AI playbooks by 9.6x (almost the 10x goal we set out with). We’ll be publishing a whitepaper on this work.
We were just a small startup with a crazy idea. Jensen took a bet on us. Jensen cares deeply about Open Source AI and Local AI.
I don't believe Jensen is replaceable, he's a 1 of 1 human, but I hope NVIDIA will continue to aggressively support Open Source AI and Local AI, and continue to take bets on small startups with crazy ideas.
Thank you Jensen
George Chen retweeted
Key takeaways on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s resignation:
1. Near term, the bad news is priced in:
For the stock market, this could be a one-time clearing event. Huang has now fully cut ties with Nvidia, so Congress summoning him and any follow-up investigations should have less impact on Nvidia’s stock from here. As for how Huang’s next moves might affect Nvidia, it’s too early to call before the investigation results are out.
2. Google’s TPU is likely the biggest beneficiary:
With Nvidia facing succession uncertainty, Google’s TPU has a chance to win more trust from customers and the supply chain. Its key partners, MediaTek and Broadcom, could be the market’s near-term focus.
3. Succession impact shows up in 2028 at the earliest:
CFO Colette Kress is now interim CEO. The formal CEO transition and the organizational changes that come with it will likely start affecting Nvidia’s product development and competitiveness in 2028 at the earliest.
4. Capacity pre-booking and spec upgrades are the key focus for supply chain checks:
Huang’s product strategy pushed the supply chain hard in two ways: capacity pre-booking and spec upgrades. It’s critical to watch for any changes in capacity expansion and new tech development across the supply chain. These are among the core reasons Nvidia’s supply chain trades at high P/E multiples.
5. China demand and export controls:
The share of Nvidia’s AI chip revenue that ultimately ends up with Chinese buyers may be higher than what the company has officially stated. That’s why some investors worry Nvidia’s revenue will drop sharply once the US government tightens export controls. But China’s end demand won’t disappear because of export controls. Even under tighter rules, as long as overseas resale channels exist, Chinese buyers may still pay the premium, even at several times the price, and get Nvidia chips/racks through indirect routes.
George Chen retweeted
Met with a great group of American students at NYU Shanghai. It is important for American students to deepen their understanding of China through firsthand experience with its language, history, culture, and complex realities on the ground.
George Chen retweeted
News: The US intel community is still working to understand the relationship between a Chinese businesswoman who had an affair with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and the Chinese government, with multiple sources telling CNN that the intelligence collected on her to date does not prove that she was acting as a spy for Beijing.
cnn.com/2026/11/12/politics/…
George Chen retweeted
A Chinese state-run newspaper denied Beijing had any link to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s extramarital affair, accusing American media outlets of spreading a fabricated spy narrative and warning the issue could hurt ties bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
George Chen retweeted
TAG Partner and Chair of Digital Practice @george_chen tells The Straits Times that Democrats could push for faster or expanded arms sales to Taiwan and a tougher line on export controls for AI and advanced technology. Either could strain the strategic stability Trump and Xi have sought to maintain.
Read more: straitstimes.com/asia/east-a…
For businesses, with the ASEAN, APEC, and G20 summits in the coming weeks, the next few weeks will show how the relationship with Asia shapes up.
Sharing my comments in The Straits Times today on the implications of U.S. midterm election results on U.S.-China relations, Taiwan, and AI related export controls:
US midterms: Will Trump take a tougher stance on China after his election setback?
Analysts said Taiwan and advanced technology restrictions are two areas where a Democrat-controlled Congress could create more friction between Washington and Beijing.
George Chen, partner and chair of digital practice at the Washington-based consultancy @TheAsiaGroup, said Taiwan enjoys strong support among many Democrats, particularly because of relationships built during the administration of former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.
“If Congress pushes Trump’s administration to accelerate or expand arms sales to Taiwan, the strategic stability that Trump and Xi have sought to maintain could come under strain, given Beijing’s strong opposition to any moves in Washington that it perceives as supporting Taiwan,” said Chen.
Democrats may also take a tougher stance on export controls, particularly in areas related to AI and advanced technologies, said Chen.
He cited previous calls by Democratic lawmakers for greater scrutiny of NVIDIA’s chief executive Jensen Huang and his company’s business activities involving China.
Nvidia’s advanced chips are widely used to develop AI models but Washington has restricted exports of some of its most powerful processors to China over concerns that the technology could strengthen Beijing’s capabilities.
Full story: straitstimes.com/asia/east-a…
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George Chen retweeted
China is threatening retaliation over the U.S. ban on DeepSeek in federal systems. TAG Partner and Chair of Digital Practice @george_chen tells @AP the warnings reflect "the depth of strategic distrust between Beijing and Washington," even as Trump and Xi work to keep their personal relationship "warm and constructive."
Read more: apnews.com/article/us-china-…
George Chen retweeted
"Beijing really missed the entire internet era in terms of global governance. It didn’t do very well in semiconductors either. So now comes the AI era."
TAG's @george_chen tells @el_pais why Beijing sees AI as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to finally catch up with Washington — even as American and Chinese publics hold starkly opposite views on the technology's risks.
Read the full article: english.elpais.com/internati…
George Chen retweeted
"For the Chinese political system, it is always about the party, about the ruler, rather than about how much influence the business community can have." TAG Partner and Chair of Digital Practice @george_chen tells @straits_times why the absence of Chinese CEOs at Xi's state dinner shouldn't be read as a summit signal.
Read more: straitstimes.com/world/chine…
George Chen retweeted
"This is where the Board of Trade comes in."
TAG Partner and Co-Chair of Southeast Asia Practice Amb. Daniel Kritenbrink explains why the new 30B-for-30B U.S.-China tariff relief deal is the first real, tangible sign behind the Trump-Xi truce — and why the next two summits will determine if it lasts.
George Chen retweeted
A rare moment from Peng Liyuan’s visit to Washington.
At the Smithsonian, children from Hope Chinese School sang Chinese folk songs, and Peng softly sang along to “Jasmine Flower.”
For a moment, China’s First Lady returned to the identity that made her famous decades ago: a singer.
George Chen retweeted
TAG Partner and Chair of Digital Practice @george_chen says the first day of the U.S.-China AI dialogue in New York — led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng — gave a "sense of hope for the two countries to cooperate on AI," in his interview with @AlJazeera.
He called the continuation of dialogue itself a sign of progress, highlighted the proposed AI risk notification mechanism as a promising step other countries may eventually join, and warned that the gravest AI risk would resemble a Cold War–style arms race — particularly if AI were ever given control over nuclear launch decisions.
George Chen retweeted
US sanctions boost China’s science-driven innovation by over 70%, study finds scmp.com/news/china/science/…
George Chen retweeted
Our @CBSSunday story about where “the most powerful man in AI” aka @JensenHuang stands on the evolving debate on AI safety and why.
The Atlantic recently called Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang "the most powerful man in AI."
He talks with CBS News' @jolingkent at Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., about the latest developments in artificial intelligence and the ongoing debate over safety and regulations. cbsn.ws/476ihUf
George Chen retweeted
“China does not need U.S. permission to accelerate or decelerate its AI investments; Xi will pursue his own agenda.”
TAG Partner and Chair of Digital Practice @george_chen shared his analysis with @FortuneMagazine on the U.S.-China AI race and why China won’t slow down.
Read the full article: fortune.com/2026/09/15/ai-sl…
George Chen retweeted
OUT NOW @CSISFreeman 🚨
On the latest episode of Pekingology, Senior Fellow @Henrietta_Ivy is joined by Ambassador Dan Kritenbrink to preview the upcoming Trump-Xi summit in Washington, DC.
Tune in to hear Kritenbrink reflect on his firsthand experience in the room with Xi, lessons he learned from helping plan Xi’s 2015 state visit to Washington, and what to expect when Trump and Xi meet in DC.
🎧 Listen here: csis.org/podcasts/pekingolog…
