‘The cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees': Nvidia continues to stress importance of human workers - but how long can we all hang on?

• Nvidia exec says compute cost outweighs human workers - for now
• Fears over AI taking jobs continue to prevail, especially among younger workers
• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has taken a key role in trying to play down fears

Despite a barrage of recent reports that the AI workplace revolution is underway, and human workers are doomed, a senior Nvidia executive has claimed using technology is still the more costly option - at least for now.

Speaking to Axios recently, Bryan Catanzaro, vice president of applied deep learning at Nvidia, noted that, “for my team, the cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees.”

This is in spite of many firms cutting back on human workers in favor of AI technology, which does not require as much investment and continual monitoring as the new tools.

Human vs AI - or both?

Catanzaro should know what he's talking about - he leads an incredibly senior team at Nvidia which looks to find, "new ways to use AI to improve projects ranging from language understanding to computer graphics and chip design".

His beliefs also run in time with CEO Jensen Huang, who has understandably looked to allay fears about AI taking people's jobs, despite Nvidia being at the very forefront of the latest developments in the technology.

At the company's recent Nvidia GTC 2026 event, Huang revealed he actually finds himself "getting busier and busier" as AI processes speed up workflows across his business.

"A lot of people are saying AI is coming, we're going to run out of jobs - but it’s exactly the opposite," he noted.

The theme was continued at the recent Adobe Summit 2026, where Huang spoke more on fears that artificial intelligence might replace skilled professionals, noting that AI lets us frame roles differently, replacing human labor in terms of the tasks, but it frees up workers to align outcomes with their true purpose.

Huang also recently told Democratic California Congressman Ro Khanna that he thinks "the narratives of AI destroying jobs is not going to help America...First of all, it’s just false. Of course, with every technology, and every single day that goes by, jobs of the past are changed.”

“The purpose of your job and the tasks that you do in your job are related but not the same,” he added. “Using myself as an example, if they were the same, then somebody would observe that what Jensen does really for a living is typing and talking. And typing and talking have both been automated to a superhuman level by AI. And yet I’m busier than ever."

All this may still fail to reassure workers, particularly those in the early part of their careers, finding that AI has taken entry-level jobs which are often so useful for building up experience.

Recent research from Randstad claimed Gen Z workers are the most concerned about AI displacing human roles, despite being strong users, with only one in five saying d they feel their job is immune from AI.

And a Forrester report along with data from banking giant Goldman Sachs also claimed humans remain the main blocker to widespread workplace AI adoption, with many workers saying they feel threatened by the technology, especially against a backdrop of continuous tech and AI-induced layoffs.

So it remains to be seen just how long this cost-effectiveness balance can be continued, although human workers (including myself) will be hopeful AI doesn't take over just yet.

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