Nvidia’s Jensen Huang says AI multitrillion-dollar buildout will boost jobs

Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s founder, used a blog post to argue that artificial intelligence will expand employment rather than erase it, because building and running AI systems will require a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure buildout worldwide.

He compared AI to core utilities like electricity and the internet, and said the chip fabs, computer assembly plants, and data centers needed to run it amount to the largest infrastructure project in history. The effort, he argued, is still at an early stage, with only a few hundred billion dollars invested so far and trillions more required. He added that supporting and operating this buildout will require a massive workforce.

He listed trades and technical roles needed for AI data centers, including electricians, plumbers, steelworkers, network technicians and operators. Those jobs are skilled and well paid, he wrote, and in short supply. The scope, in his view, spans industries and borders: “Every company will use AI. Every nation will build it.”

Huang broke the AI stack into five layers: energy, AI chips, computing hardware and networks, the AI models, and the applications built on them. Because AI generates results on demand instead of just executing stored instructions, he said the core architecture needs to be rebuilt. He added that much of the needed infrastructure and trained workforce is still missing, leaving a large share of the opportunity unrealized.

Nvidia has ridden a surge in demand for AI computing. Its chips are in heavy use across cloud providers and large enterprises, and its stock has climbed more than 1,300% since 2023, following the public release of ChatGPT and a ramp-up in corporate AI spending.

The remarks arrive as some companies link efficiency gains from AI to job cuts. Last month, Block reduced its workforce by about 40%, a change co-founder Jack Dorsey tied to the company’s use of AI. Earlier this year, Pinterest and Dow disclosed reductions totaling more than 5,000 roles tied to AI-related changes. Analysts at Goldman Sachs recently estimated that AI-related job losses have been visible but moderate, and that the U.S. unemployment rate could edge to 4.5% by year-end from 4.4%.