© Reuters. Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang speaks at the COMPUTEX Forum in Taipei, Taiwan, May 29, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Nvidia (NASDAQ::) CEO Jensen Huang said artificial intelligence means everyone can now become a programmer because all they need to do is talk to a computer, hailing the end of the “digital divide.”
Nvidia has grown into the world’s most valuable semiconductor company as a major supplier of chips and computing systems for artificial intelligence.
The company last week forecast second-quarter revenue more than 50% above Wall Street estimates and said it was boosting supply to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence chips, which are used to power ChatGPT and many similar services.
Speaking to thousands of people at the Computex Forum in Taipei, Huang, who was born in southern Taiwan before his family immigrated to the United States when he was a child, said artificial intelligence is driving a computing revolution.
“There is no doubt that we are in a new age of computing,” he said in a speech, occasionally dropping words in Mandarin or Taiwanese to cheer the crowd.
“In every era of computing, you can do different things that were not possible before, and artificial intelligence is definitely qualified,” Huang added.
“The programming barrier is incredibly low,” he said. “We’ve closed the digital divide. Everyone’s a programmer now—you just have to say something to the computer.”
“The rate of progress, given its ease of use, is why it’s grown so quickly. This will literally touch every single industry.”
Nvidia chips have helped companies like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) Add human-like chat features to search engines like Bing.
Huang showed what AI could do, including getting the program to write a short pop song praising Nvidia with just a few words of instruction.
Unveiled several new applications, including a partnership with the world’s largest ad group WPP (LON:) for AI-powered formative content for digital advertising.
Nvidia has strained to meet demand for its AI chips, with Tesla (NASDAQ::) Inc CEO Elon Musk, who is said to be building an AI startup, telling an interviewer last week that graphics processing units (GPUs) are “getting it.” Much harder than drugs.”