Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has declared OpenAI’s ChatGPT as creating an “iPhone moment for artificial intelligence.” Speaking at the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, Huang suggested that ChatGPT is revolutionary for engaging the imagination of millions and opening their eyes to the possibilities the technology holds, much as Apple’s iPhone did for mobile computing, ushering in a new era. ChatGPT has taken the world by storm, and it is the diversity of use that Huang feels makes it special — with some putting it to work to create code, while others use it to write fiction or plan meals and much more.

“When was the last time we saw a piece of technology that is so versatile that it can solve problems and surprise people in so many ways so often?” Huang asked, calling “What OpenAI has done … one of the greatest things that has ever been done for computing.”

“Summarizing his thoughts, Huang did not hold back,” writes ExtremeTech. “Though most rational people wouldn’t disagree with his comments, Nvidia is also poised to reap the benefits of AI’s rise in popularity.”

Nvidia GPUs are popular for AI training. ChatGPT was itself “trained on over 10,000 Nvidia GPUs,” ExtremeTech reports. “Huang has seen his wealth rise in 2023 faster than any other U.S. billionaire. His rise in income is closely tied to the company’s advancements in products for the AI market.”

The popularity of ChatGPT can only bode well for Nvidia’s GPU sales, as OpenAI continues to grow its business, and competitors rise to the occasion.

The massive computing power required to build and run AI apps promises what The Wall Street Journal calls “a lucrative new revenue stream” of as much as “tens of billions of dollars” in net annual sales for semiconductor makers. “Excitement over so-called generative AI has reached fever pitch since the release late last year” of ChatGPT.

Microsoft has invested more than $10 billion in OpenAI, and Google recently announced that its own generative chatbot, Bard, will soon be released to the public.

“Generative AI’s versatility and capability has triggered a sense of urgency at enterprises around the world to develop and deploy AI strategies,” Huang said during Nvidia’s quarterly earnings announcement last week, when he talked-up a what WSJ called “a new cloud-computing initiative to capitalize on the business opportunity.”

ChatGPT racked up 100 million users in two months, a consumer app record.

Related:
Meet the $10,000 Nvidia Chip Powering the Race for AI, CNBC, 2/23/23
How Nvidia Dominated AI — and Plans to Keep It That Way as Generative AI Explodes, VentureBeat, 2/23/23
China Prepares to Police AI as ChatGPT Frenzy Spreads, Bloomberg, 2/24/23