(Bloomberg) — Jensen Huang, CEO of chip phenomenon Nvidia Corp., is getting the kind of treatment normally reserved for celebrities and sports stars during a trip to Taiwan.
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The 60-year-old was followed at a local night market over the weekend while collecting food and was constantly hounded by fans and media as he walked the aisles of the Computex trade show. Dozens of people crowded beside him for selfies on Tuesday while photographers tried to get clear shots.
The day marked Huang’s fifth public appearance in seven days, this time for a panel where he asked questions on topics ranging from artificial intelligence regulation to the technology’s deployment in places like China. Huang argued that AI will go beyond the confines of the tech industry into everything from agriculture and factories to pharmaceuticals and climate change.
“AI is an incredible computer that’s very easy to program,” he said. “You can speak any language you want, you can even draw pictures. “I just turned everyone into a programmer.”
Nvidia shares are up more than 3% in premarket trading, bringing the company closer to a $1 trillion market cap.
Nvidia has had a dizzying week. It started when Huang on Wednesday forecast current-quarter sales more than 50% ahead of analysts’ estimates, indicating an explosion in demand for the chips that power artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT.
Nvidia’s market cap surged $184 billion in a single day, sparking an AI rally around the world. The company’s valuation is approaching the $1 trillion mark, a level no chipmaker has yet reached. One analyst responded with a research note titled “Greatest Beat Ever?”
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Huang’s wealth increased by more than $6 billion to a record $34 billion. He co-founded the company in 1993 and still heads it as CEO.
At Tuesday’s roundtable, Huang alternated between serious and exuberant. When asked about government regulations, he acknowledged the potential risks.
“We need to take AI security very seriously,” he said. “Ultimately, AI is a product or a service. All products and services should be regulated and safe.”
Huang said two of his favorite opportunities for AI aren’t in the technology industry, but rather in drug discovery and understanding climate change.
He was most measured when discussing China. Semiconductor technology has been at the heart of rising US-China tensions, and Washington has banned the export of certain Nvidia products to China. Nevertheless, he assumes that Beijing will support AI development.
“I think China would seize the opportunity to promote all of its local entrepreneurs,” he said.
Nvidia largely relies on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. to manufacture the chips it designs, but Huang said the company has designed its supply chain for resiliency and redundancy. It has started using Samsung Electronics Co. for manufacturing and is also considering Intel Corp. as a production partner, he said.
“We produce in as many places as possible,” he said.
Huang was born in Taiwan and has been treated like a rock star ever since he landed on the island for the Computex trade show.
He began the journey with an opening address at National Taiwan University. He entertained students with stories about how Nvidia nearly died in its early years and the lessons he learned from such difficult experiences. He also encouraged them to become more familiar with AI — no matter what field they’re in — because the technology will transform the corporate landscape and every single workplace.
On Monday, he spent two hours on stage for a Computex keynote, introducing a wide range of new products to meet the rapid demand for AI. The offering included a new robotic design, gaming features, advertising services, network technology and, perhaps most importantly, an AI supercomputer platform.
Huang lamented that he had not been able to give such a lecture for four years due to the pandemic. As a result, he said the company has a lot to show the world. “It’s too much,” Huang said toward the end of the presentation. “I know it’s too much.”
But after Tuesday’s round of talks, it was clear that Huang was enjoying his moment in the spotlight. After another round of goodbyes, he made his way to another press conference to talk about Nvidia’s products.
(Updates with early trading in fifth paragraph)
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