World Government Summit 2024 in Dubai: Every country must build sovereign AI infrastructure, says Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
Democratising intelligence is now possible; every country should do it, says Huang
Dubai: Every country needs its own artificial infrastructure (AI) ecosystem to turbocharge economic potential while protecting its own culture, Nvidia Founder and CEO Jensen Huang said at the World Government Summit in Dubai on Monday. “You cannot allow that to be done by other people,” he said.
Huang, whose firm has catapulted to a $1.73 trillion stock market value due to its dominance of the market for high-end AI chips, said his company is ‘democratising’ access to AI due to swift efficiency gains in AI computing.
While in conversation with Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, Huang told government leaders that each country should own the production of its intelligence, emphasising the concept of sovereign AI.
“Data ownership is crucial, encompassing culture, societal intelligence, common sense, and history. Countries must refine and own their national intelligence, recognising the unique capabilities they possess,” he said.
Huang also said that democratising the computation and infrastructure of AI is the first step. “The rest depends on individual initiatives to build infrastructure quickly for researchers, companies, and governments to leverage in developing their AI,” said Huang.
AI factories
He said AI applications like speech, conversation, customer service and recommenders are driving fundamental changes in data centre design. “Data centres are the new computer, and these centres can be focused on AI.”
“AI data centres process mountains of continuous data to train and refine AI models,” Huang said at Nvidia’s GTC Conference in 2022. “Raw data comes in, is refined, and intelligence goes out — companies are manufacturing intelligence and operating giant AI factories,” he explained.
Much like heavy machinery, it is needed to refine raw materials into more valuable resources. For example, substantial computing power is required to turn enormous amounts of raw data into intelligence. “AI factories will become the bedrock of modern economies around the world.
Demystifying AI
The CEO of the multinational technology company also said that fears about the dangers of AI are overblown, noting that other new technologies and industries, such as cars and aviation, have been successfully regulated.
“There are some interests to scare people about this new technology, to mystify it, to encourage other people to not do anything about it and rely on them to do it. And I think that’s a mistake,” he explained. He added, “We want to democratise it.”