Ask Washington’s most plugged-in politicians and lobbyists which Chinese chip company is the biggest threat to Nvidia and you’ll hear one name: Huawei Technologies. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has repeatedly cited Huawei’s rising prominence in both private meetings with lawmakers and public forums. Huawei has become shorthand for China’s semiconductor ambitions.

But that misses the bigger picture. China has more than 10 companies actively designing and shipping AI chips today, ranging from state-backed research institutions with decades of chip expertise to startups founded by engineers who spent years at Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Intel before coming home to build something of their own.