The global push to develop and sustain generative artificial intelligence will require investments running into trillions of dollars, according to Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang.
Huang made the remarks on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where discussions on artificial intelligence have continued despite being partly overshadowed by geopolitical tensions, including a transatlantic dispute linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s interest in Greenland.
Describing the current wave of AI development as unprecedented, Huang said the world has embarked on what he called “the largest infrastructure buildout in human history.” He noted that while hundreds of billions of dollars have already been committed, much larger sums will still be needed to expand energy supply, cloud computing capacity and advanced electronics to support the technology.
Nvidia has emerged as a dominant player in the AI race due to its graphics processing units (GPUs), which are essential for training and running large language models used in popular chatbots and other AI-driven services. Originally designed for 3D gaming, the company’s GPUs have become central to modern AI systems.
Soaring demand for these processors helped push Nvidia’s market value beyond $5 trillion in October, though the figure has since declined by more than $600 billion.
Major AI developers, including OpenAI, have channelled significant portions of their funding into Nvidia products, racing to build data centres packed with GPUs in anticipation of surging demand for AI-powered tools and services.
Addressing concerns that the rapid spending could signal an unsustainable bubble, Huang dismissed such fears, arguing that the scale of investment reflects the foundational infrastructure required to support AI technologies.
“The investments are large because the infrastructure needed to support every layer of AI is enormous,” he said, adding that the long-term opportunity remains “extraordinary.”
Huang also downplayed fears that AI would lead to widespread job losses, suggesting instead that the technology would create new types of work as it becomes more integrated into everyday business operations.
However, a more cautious view was expressed earlier by Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, who warned that the industry could face instability if the benefits of AI are not widely distributed. He said broad adoption across sectors would be crucial to preventing a potential downturn.
Nvidia CEO Says Trillions More Needed to Power Global AI Infrastructure Boom
