Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently received honorary degree in engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Post the felicitation, Huang participated in a fireside chat with the university’s Council Chairman Harry Sham. The audience comprised students and academics. He talked about a range of topics around AI, Supercomputers, potential restrictions under Donald Trump administration.
Nvidia surpassed Apple early this month to become the highest valued company in the world.
Huang encouraged a shift in thinking toward AI’s ultimate goal: inference, rather than solely training models. By leveraging AI’s power to discover new solutions, he said that we can optimize energy usage and create a more sustainable future. He envisions a world where AI supercomputers are strategically placed to harness renewable energy sources and minimize environmental impact. Huang said, “My hopes and dreams is that in the end, what we all see is that using energy for intelligence is the best use of energy we can imagine.”
As the AI era unfolds, Huang said that he believes that the opportunities for innovation are boundless. He urged young graduates to embrace this transformative time and contribute to shaping the future of technology. Huang said, “If the world uses more energy to power the AI factories of the world, we are a better world when that happens”. Huang said “the goal of AI is not for training, the goal of AI is for inference”. He said AI can discover, for instance, new ways to store carbon dioxide in reservoirs, new wind turbine designs and new materials for storing electricity.
The age of AI has started …
Earlier in a speech, Huang told engineering students that “the age of AI has started”. “A new computing era that will impact every industry and every field of science,” he said. The 61-year-old CEO of the world’s most-valuable company Nvidia, Huang told students that he wished he had started his career at this time. “The whole world is reset. You’re at the starting lines with everybody else. An industry is being reinvented. You now have the instruments, the instruments necessary to advance science in so many different fields,” Huang said.
“The greatest challenges of our time, unimaginable challenges to overcome in the past, all of a sudden seem possible to tackle.”
Challenges under Donald Trump administration
Talking about Donald Trump administration, Nvidia CEO said that his company will balance legal compliance and technological advances, and nothing will stop the global advancement of artificial intelligence. “Whatever happens, we’ll balance simultaneously compliance with laws and policies, continue to advance our technology, and support and serve customers all over the world,” Huang said. “We’ll continue to do that and we’ll be able to do that just fine.”