Nvidia Pushes Into Quantum Software and Nuclear Power as China Export Rift Widens

Nvidia unveils quantum software, partners on nuclear power for AI factories, and faces a political battle over China chip exports ahead of Q1 earnings.

The chipmaker is racing to secure its future on multiple fronts. With quarterly earnings due on May 20, Nvidia has unveiled a quantum computing software platform, forged a nuclear energy partnership, and finds itself embroiled in a deepening political dispute over exports to China. The convergence of these developments underscores the company’s ambition to dominate not just AI hardware, but the entire infrastructure stack that powers it.

A New Operating System for Quantum Machines

Nvidia’s latest bet is on quantum computing — but not the hardware. CEO Jensen Huang introduced Ising, an open-source AI model designed to make quantum processors viable for mass-market use. Huang acknowledged that traditional graphics chips cannot match the raw computational power of quantum hardware. Instead, Nvidia is positioning its software as the essential bridge. Artificial intelligence, he argued, will function as the operating system for quantum machines.

The company is leaving the physical chip fabrication to specialists like Rigetti Computing while building the tools that control them. Alongside Ising, Nvidia released Nemotron 3 Nano Omni, a multimodal model capable of processing image, audio, and text in a single system. Aimed at autonomous AI agents, the Nemotron family has already surpassed 50 million downloads, with clients including Palantir and Foxconn.

Nuclear Power for AI Factories

The voracious energy appetite of data centers is threatening to throttle the AI boom. Nvidia’s response: a partnership with energy firm Oklo and the Los Alamos National Laboratory to explore nuclear power. The collaboration will develop AI models for testing nuclear fuels and, ultimately, build atomic-powered AI factories.

The logic is straightforward: control the energy supply, and you secure the computing capacity. For Nvidia, this marks a push toward vertical integration that could reshape how the industry thinks about powering next-generation infrastructure.

The China Conundrum

While Nvidia expands into new frontiers, its access to one of the world’s largest markets is under siege. A public contradiction between Huang and the US Commerce Department has drawn the attention of the Senate. Senator Chris Coons has demanded clarity from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on exactly how many AI chips have been cleared for export to China.

Lutnick told the Senate in April that no such processors had been sold to Chinese firms. Huang, however, confirmed in March that both governments had granted approvals, and the company has reported concrete orders. The backlog of applications at the export control agency, where each case is reportedly reviewed individually by an undersecretary, has created a political tug-of-war.

The stakes are enormous. China accounted for 13 percent of Nvidia’s revenue last fiscal year — roughly $28 billion. Huang sees long-term potential in the region, but the company’s market share has collapsed from 95 percent to below 60 percent as Beijing pushes domestic firms toward local alternatives from Huawei and Alibaba.

Earnings on the Horizon

Ahead of the May 20 earnings release, Nvidia’s stock trades near $198, down about 8 percent from its recent all-time high. The options market is pricing in a swing of more than 10 percent following the results. Management has guided for revenue of roughly $78 billion in the current quarter, with analysts expecting a 79 percent year-over-year increase. Notably, the company has excluded Chinese data center revenue from its forecast.

The political backdrop adds another layer of uncertainty. A planned meeting between President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping could provide the geopolitical context for the weeks ahead. For Nvidia, the challenge is clear: how to maintain its dominance in AI while navigating export restrictions, energy constraints, and the relentless demands of a market that now values the company at $5 trillion.