Nvidia chief calls AI ‘the greatest equalizer' — but warns Europe risks falling behind
PARIS (AP) — Will artificial intelligence save humanity — or destroy it? Lift up the world's poorest — or tighten the grip of a tech elite?
Jensen Huang, the global chip tycoon, offered his opinion on Wednesday: neither dystopia nor domination. AI, he said, is a tool for liberation.
Wearing his signature biker jacket and mobbed by fans for selfies, the Nvidia CEO cut the figure of a tech rockstar as he took the stage at VivaTech in Paris.
'AI is the greatest equalizer of people the world has ever created,' Huang said, kicking off one of Europe's biggest technology industry fairs.
But beyond the sheeny optics, Nvidia used the Paris summit to unveil a wave of infrastructure announcements across Europe, signaling a dramatic expansion of the AI chipmaker's physical and strategic footprint on the continent.
In France, the company is deploying 18,000 of its new Blackwell chips with startup Mistral AI. In Germany, it's building an industrial AI cloud to support manufacturers. Similar rollouts are underway in Italy, Spain, Finland and the U.K., including a new AI lab in Britain.
Other announcements include a partnership with AI startup Perplexity to bring sovereign AI models to European publishers and telecoms, a new cloud platform with Mistral AI, and work with BMW and Mercedes-Benz to train AI-powered robots for use in auto plants.
The announcements reflect how central AI infrastructure has become to global strategy, and how Nvidia — the world's most valuable chipmaker — is positioning itself as the engine behind it.
At the center of the debate is Huang's concept of the AI factory: not a plant that makes goods, but a vast data center that creates intelligence. These facilities train language models, simulate new drugs, detect cancer in scans, and more.
Asked if such systems risk creating a 'technological priesthood' — hoarding computing power and stymying the bottom-up innovation that fueled the tech industry for the past 50 years — Huang pushed back.
'Through the velocity of our innovation, we democratize,' he told The Associated Press. 'We lower the cost of access to technology.'
As Huang put it, these factories 'reason,' 'plan,' and 'spend a lot of time talking to' themselves, powering everything from ChatGPT to autonomous vehicles and diagnostics.
But some critics warn that without guardrails, such all-seeing, self-reinforcing systems could go the way of Skynet in ' The Terminator ' movie — vast intelligence engines that outpace human control.
'Just as electricity powered the last industrial revolution, AI will power the next one,' he said. 'Every country now needs a national intelligence infrastructure.'
He added: 'AI factories are now part of a country's infrastructure. That's why you see me running around the world talking to heads of state — they all want AI to be part of their infrastructure. They want AI to be a growth manufacturing industry for them.'
Europe, long praised for its leadership on digital rights, now finds itself at a crossroads. As Brussels pushes forward with world-first AI regulations, some warn that over-caution could cost the bloc its place in the global race. With the U.S. and China surging ahead and most major AI firms based elsewhere, the risk isn't just falling behind — it's becoming irrelevant.
Huang has a different vision: sovereign AI. Not isolation, but autonomy — building national AI systems aligned with local values, independent of foreign tech giants.
'The data belongs to you,' Huang said. 'It belongs to your people, your country... your culture, your history, your common sense.'
But fears over AI misuse remain potent — from surveillance and deepfake propaganda to job losses and algorithmic discrimination. Huang doesn't deny the risks. But he insists the technology can be kept in check — by itself.
'In the future, the AI that is doing the task is going to be surrounded by 70 or 80 other AIs that are supervising it, observing it, guarding it, ensuring that it doesn't go off the rails.'
The VivaTech event was part of Huang's broader European tour. He had already appeared at London Tech Week and is scheduled to visit Germany. In Paris, he joined French President Emmanuel Macron and Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch to reinforce his message that AI is now a national priority.
—
Chan reported from London.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
35 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Netherlands Defence Minister: NATO-wide 5% defence spend would be "historic"
Ruben Brekelmans, Netherlands Minister of Defence said they and their European partners support President Donald Trump's calls to encourage Iran to the negotiation table in order to "come to a sustainable solution". Speaking about the upcoming NATO meeting, he told Bloomberg's Oliver Crook "if we agree to 5% spending on core defence and defence-related matters, that would be a historic step" and said it would be of particular significance "if 32 allies in unity agree on this". (Source: Bloomberg)
Bloomberg
35 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
BBVA Chairman Urges ‘Clarity' on Sabadell's TSB Disposal Plan
BBVA SA Chairman Carlos Torres said he wants more clarity regarding the process for a potential sale of Banco Sabadell SA 's UK unit. 'Sabadell has spoken about unsolicited offers, and then there are reports about an ongoing process' he said at a conference Monday. 'It would be good for the information to be clarified.'
Associated Press
37 minutes ago
- Associated Press
EU finds 'indications' Israel is breaching their trade deal with its actions in Gaza
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says there are ″indications″ that Israel's actions in Gaza are violating human rights obligations in its trade agreement with the EU, according to its findings seen by The Associated Press. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas presented the review to foreign minsters of the 27-member bloc in Brussels on Monday, leading at least one country to openly propose suspending the trade deal. 'There are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Associated Agreement,' according to the review by the EU's diplomatic corps, the European External Action Service. A third of Israel's imports come from the EU, valued at $27 billion annually, while Europe imports less than 1% of its goods from Israel, according to the EU Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security. Suspending trade ties would require a unanimous decision, which is likely impossible to obtain from countries like Austria, Germany and Hungary that tend to back Israel. Other actions — such as ending visa-free travel to Europe for Israelis, sanctioning Israeli settlers in the West Bank or halting academic partnerships — could be pushed if a 'qualified majority' — 15 of the 27 nations representing at least 65% of the population of the EU — agree. Countries like the Netherlands, Ireland and Spain have been vocal in their support for the Palestinians in Gaza as Israel battles Hamas. 'When all the focus is on Iran and the escalation regarding Iran, we should not forget about Gaza,' said Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp, who led the charge for the review. Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostages. About 56,000 Palestinians have since been killed, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, and little relatively aid has entered since Israel ended the latest ceasefire in March. Outrage over Israel's actions in Gaza has grown in Europe as images of suffering Palestinians have driven protests in London, Berlin, Brussels, Madrid and Amsterdam. Spain has canceled arms deals with Israel and called for an arms embargo. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno on Monday called for suspending the EU-Israel trade agreement. 'The time for words and declarations is behind. We had enough time,' he told the meeting. 'And at the same time, Palestinians in Gaza have no more time to lose. Every day, babies, women, men are being killed. This is the time for action.' Manuel Albares also called for an embargo on EU countries selling weapons to Israel and for the widening of individual sanctions on anyone undermining the proposed two-state solution. 'Europe must show courage,' he told journalists. ___ Associated Press writers Lorne Cooke in The Hague and Ella Joyner in Brussels contributed to this report.
