Pony.ai CFO Says Chinese Chips Are Its Plan B if US Tightens Nvidia Export Curbs

Wang was asked what would happen if the fallout from Jensen Huang's resignation led to tougher curbs on Nvidia chips shipped to China. Huang, Nvidia's founder, stepped down as chief executive after admitting to an affair with an alleged spy.

"If you look at the whole situation, this has been developing for already a couple of years," Wang said. "Everyone, I would say, is also practicing kind of like a Plan B for a few years, so at least if you think about that, I would say there are alternatives."

He added that the alternatives are probably not the best choice yet on cost-effectiveness, but are "more mature than a few years ago".

Demand for computing power already far exceeds supply, Wang said, and is one of the pain points Pony.ai struggles with. The company is responding in two ways. Engineers are told to be as efficient as possible when deploying training models, which can mean using mid-tier compute instead of high-end resources. Pony.ai is also turning more to domestically produced chips to help close the gap.

"If you look at the whole ecosystem, especially in recent years, definitely domestic chips in China also get lots of attention and development," Wang said, describing them as another option for AI training. "I think that gives us some flexibility."

Nvidia is a major supplier of AI computing to the autonomous driving industry, though reliance on it varies. Some developers run their driving software on its automotive processors, and others train their models on its GPUs. Mercedes-Benz, Zoox and Wayve have full-stack partnerships with the company.

Huang had been one of the strongest advocates of open source in the United States. News of his resignation spread through Web Summit, where co-founder Paddy Cosgrave had opened the conference by saying the superstars of the future are coming from China, not California.