At WIRED’s The Big Interview in San Francisco, WIRED Senior Editor Lauren Goode spoke with Huang about the AI trend. He called it the “reboot of computing as we’ve known it for the last 60 years,” and said the power of artificial intelligence is “so incredible that you can’t compete with it.” “You’re either part of the wave or you’ve missed it.”
According to Jensen, people are starting to realize that AI is like energy and communications infrastructure; and now, there is going to be a “digital intelligence infrastructure.” Huang’s current task is to get others, especially the world’s governments, to agree with his vision. Of the entire series of conversations, Huang was the only speaker who called from outside the United States; was in Thailand, where he lived for five years as a child and where he will meet with Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand, to talk about together building a “world-class AI infrastructure” in the country.
The Asian country is the last stop on Huang’s “lightning tour” this year, to present to governments the idea that they should forge their own paths to the future by building their own AI infrastructure, processing national data, having AI systems customized and, obviously, acquiring Nvidia chips for it. The speech worked quite well for him. According to data collected by Sherwood NewsThailand is the new addition to a list of at least 10 countries that have signed AI infrastructure projects with Nvidia. Huang himself confirmed during the interview that this year he was in Denmark, Japan, Indonesia and India; all countries decided to build their own national AI systems using Nvidia chips.
Nvidia wants to be the “best friend” of governments
The success of Huang’s proposal to governments around the world reflects both a fundamental recognition of the potential of AI systems, and of an increasingly fragmented internet in which geographic borders are remade online. AI is the latest technological product in which the invisible flow of chips and data is hindered by the borders of nation-states. One of the main tensions is between the United States and China, two technological powers that want to take first place in the next wave of technological changes. When the two countries collide, Nvidia inevitably finds itself at the center of the storm.
The Biden administration announced new restrictions that will ban the export of chip manufacturing components and technologies to China. One of the measures affects high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a component often used in custom AI chips. Nvidia’s H20 chips, designed to be sold to Chinese companies without violating export controls, contain HBM chips. According to Chinese media, Nvidia stopped accepting Chinese orders for H20 chips in September, in anticipation of new US regulations.
Goode asked the CEO about the impact of the restrictions on Nvidia, especially on the components that go into the manufacturer’s chips.. Huang did not discuss specific details, but commented that the “interactions with the current administration have been great,” which was greeted by a wave of sarcastic laughter coming from attendees at the event in San Francisco. Likewise, as Trump’s term approaches, Jensen extends a hand of friendship, despite the unstable tendencies that the president-elect may bring with him: “I contacted President Trump, congratulated him, wished him success and I said that we will do everything possible so that the administration prospers.
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