Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly told the Financial Times on Wednesday that “China is going to win the AI race,” only to release a notably softer statement soon after. 

The prolific tech leader was speaking on the sidelines of the FT’s Future of AI Summit, where he warned that China would beat the U.S. in artificial intelligence thanks to lower energy costs and looser regulations.

The comments, which CNBC could not verify independently, would represent Huang’s starkest warning yet that the U.S. is at risk of losing its global lead in advanced AI technologies. 

However, several hours after the FT published its report, Nvidia issued a separate statement from Jensen on an official X account. 

“As I have long said, China is nanoseconds behind America in AI. It’s vital that America wins by racing ahead and winning developers worldwide,” he added.

Huang has long stated that the U.S. can stay ahead in the AI race if it keeps developers reliant on Nvidia’s leading AI chips — an argument the CEO has used to lobby against export restrictions on his company’s sales to China. 

Following meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump in July, it seemed that Huang’s efforts had paid off, with Washington agreeing to ease some of its chip curbs. 

Under the plan, Nvidia and competing AI chip company AMD had agreed to pay the U.S. government 15% of their Chinese revenues from sales of existing AI processors tailored for the market.

However, Beijing has since shut Nvidia out of the market as it conducts a national security review of its chips, with Huang stating that the firm’s market share has been reduced to zero. 

It remains unclear whether China will allow any of Nvidia’s chips to return, as officials push domestic tech companies towards its domestic AI chip alternatives. However, some experts have speculated that Beijing is using Nvidia’s market access as leverage in trade negotiations or to push Washington for wider access to advanced semiconductors.

Huang was in South Korea last month, during Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Highly anticipated trade talks between the two leaders did not yield any concessions from either side on chip policy. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump had initially sought to discuss a request by Huang to allow sales of a new generation of AI chips to China. However, top officials rallied against the idea, the Journal reported, citing anonymous current and former administration officials familiar with the matter.

Now that Nvidia’s access to China remains frozen, it appears Huang is shifting his attention to other matters he considers essential to Nvidia’s growth and the AI race. 

In the interview with the FT, Huang reportedly expressed concerns that the West, including the U.S, was being held back by “cynicism” and excessive regulation — contrasting that with China’s energy subsidies aimed at lowering costs for local developers using domestic chips.

China’s Pony.ai on Thursday saw its shares drop over 12%, while rival WeRide fell nearly 8% as the autonomous driving companies began trading in Hong Kong.

Pony.ai and WeRide, which are already listed in the U.S., raised 6.71 billion Hong Kong dollars (about $860 million) and HK$2.39 billion, respectively in their initial public offerings.

The companies are striving to keep pace with larger competitors such as Baidu‘s Apollo Go in China and Alphabet‘s Waymo in the U.S. amid growing interest in autonomous technologies.

Pony.ai and WeRide, both headquartered in Guangzhou, China, stated that funds would go toward scaling efforts, and the development of Level 4 autonomous driving — a measure of driving automation that does not require human monitoring or intervention under specific environments. 

WeRide CEO Tony Xu Han told CNBC that proceeds from the latest fundraising would also be used to boost the company’s artificial intelligence capabilities and data center capacity.

The listings in Hong Kong come as the companies seek to expand outside of China, where they have already begun operating fully autonomous robotaxis in some cities. 

The new regions include the Middle East, Europe and Asian countries such as Singapore. They have yet to receive full approvals to operate their robotaxis in most of those regions.

In the U.S., both companies are aiming for a partnership with California-based Uber to allow them to deploy their robotaxis on the firm’s ride-hailing platform after receiving regulatory approval.  

However, their U.S. plans face headwinds as earlier this year the government finalized a rule effectively banning Chinese technology in connected vehicles, including self-driving systems. 

“With the uncertainty in the markets around the world and the fact that there would be intense scrutiny on a Pony or WeRide trying to enter the U.S. market, a dual listing is a lot about risk mitigation,” said Tu Le, founder and managing director at Sino Auto Insights. 

He added that the listings were also an acknowledgement that it’s gonna take a lot of capital and an endorsement of a market outside the U.S. for Pony.ai and WeRide to succeed.

In U.S. trading on Wednesday, shares Pony.ai closed down about 2%, while WeRide fell 5.3%.

In May, Chinese battery manufacturer and technology company CATL completed a secondary listing in Hong Kong, raising $5.2 billion in the world’s largest IPO so far this year.

The growing trend emerges amid geopolitical tensions and regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. 

According to New Street Research’s Bulk, the Hong Kong listings for Pony.ai and WeRide will help the companies gain access to Asia-based capital and expand their presence in China and the region.

“However, it will do nothing to advance the progress of their technology stack and regulatory approvals in Western markets. If anything, gaining approval in Western markets may be more challenging with a HK secondary listing,” he added. 

The listings could also help the firms keep up with competitors such as Baidu‘s Apollo Go in China and Alphabet‘s Waymo in the U.S., which currently have larger fleets. 

“Pony and WeRide are right up there among the global leaders,” said Sino Auto Insights’ Le. “WeRide has diversified their service portfolio a bit more but they both see Uber and the Middle East as two viable partners in their ability to get more pilots launched outside of China.”

“Investors should pay special attention to how their technology evolves with AI and other new tools becoming more mainstream,” Le said.

— CNBC’s Elaine Yu contributed to this report.

Microsoft is giving employees a way to raise concerns about the uses of its technology after controversy emerged over the company’s work in the Middle East.

An internal portal for Microsoft’s 200,000-plus workers now includes an option to request a “Trusted Technology Review,” Brad Smith, the company’s president, wrote in a memo that was disclosed in a securities filing on Wednesday. It’s designed for bringing up misgivings about the ways Microsoft builds and uses technology, he said.

“Our standard non-retaliation policy applies, and you can raise concerns anonymously,” Smith wrote.

The move comes weeks after Microsoft stopped providing some services to an Israeli defense unit. In August, The Guardian said the Israeli Defense Forces’ Unit 8200 had built a system in Microsoft’s Azure cloud for tracking Palestinians’ phone calls as part of the country’s invasion of Gaza, leading Microsoft to investigate the newspaper’s assertions.

Employees protested the company’s work with Israel, leading to firings and resignations.

Microsoft’s business has been on a tear, with its stock reaching a record last week, as OpenAI and other companies have deepened their reliance on Azure for running artificial intelligence models. Yet there’s been internal stress due to layoffs, return-to-office mandates and controversy surrounding Microsoft’s contracts.

A media report in July also described the U.S. Defense Department’s dependence on Microsoft engineers located in China.

Microsoft, which celebrated its 50th birthday in April, now sees opportunities to boost its governance.

“We are working to strengthen our existing pre-contract review process for evaluating engagements that require additional human rights due diligence,” Smith wrote.

WATCH: Microsoft sees ‘huge’ challenge and great opportunity as global economy enters a new phase, president says