AI is nothing to be scared of — Nvidia CEO plays down fears in call for rapid AI infrastructure growth

(Image credit: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has called for countries to build their own AI infrastructure, “as fast as you can” in order to take advantage of the economic benefits as soon as possible.

Huang says the fear surrounding AI is driven by “interests to scare people” and that regulating AI will be no more difficult than regulating other historic innovations such as cars and planes.

By encouraging countries to build their own AI infrastructure, Huang says that they will not only reap the economic benefits but also protect their own individual culture.

AI scaremongering or valid concerns?

Nvidia has seen its stock value reach new heights thanks to its pioneering development and sale of AI chips, with Huang pushing for countries to take advantage of the rapid increase in the efficiency of AI computing to benefit their own economies.

"The rest of it is really up to you to take initiative, activate your industry, build the infrastructure, as fast as you can," Huang said, “You cannot allow that to be done by other people.”

"There are some interests to scare people about this new technology, to mystify this technology, to encourage other people to not do anything about that technology and rely on them to do it. And I think that's a mistake."

AI regulation has been high on the agenda of many nations throughout last year, and legislation and agreements have been signed by companies and governments alike to protect themselves and others from the potential misuse of the technology.

Nvidia has had some of its high-end AI computing chips blocked by US export controls over fears that the Chinese government is seeking to use the technology to advance its military capabilities. However, Huang did not address this issue at the World Government Summit.

Via Reuters

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Benedict has been writing about security issues for close to 5 years, at first covering geopolitics and international relations while at the University of Buckingham. During this time he studied BA Politics with Journalism, for which he received a second-class honours (upper division). Benedict then continued his studies at a postgraduate level and achieved a distinction in MA Security, Intelligence and Diplomacy. Benedict transitioned his security interests towards cybersecurity upon joining TechRadar Pro as a Staff Writer, focussing on state-sponsored threat actors, malware, social engineering, and national security. Benedict is also an expert on B2B security products, including firewalls, antivirus, endpoint security, and password management.