'Just like we generate electricity, we're now going to be generating AI': Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang sees AI as a commodity to be made in 'AI factories'
My time studying and engaging in philosophy has had me considering more than my fair share of different perspectives on the same underlying phenomena, but even I scratched my head upon hearing Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang's latest take on AI. This being that AI is generated just like electricity, which implies it's a resource or commodity.
To be more specific, in a recent earnings call (via Motley Fool) the Huangster stated: «Just like we generate electricity, we're now going to be generating AI. And if the number of customers is large, just as the number of consumers of electricity is large, these generators are going to be running 24/7.»
It sounds like marketing hype, but if so then Huang is quite committed to the bit. He continued: «Today, many AI services are running 24/7, just like an AI factory. And so, we're going to see this new type of system come online, and I call it an AI factory because that's really as close to what it is.»
Okay, but maybe it's just hyperbole, you know, something tha-
«When we say generative AI, we're essentially saying that these data centers are really AI factories. They're generating something.»
Okay, so it's a serious claim, then. Let's give the devil his due.
The knee-jerk reaction is to say there's no way AI is similar to electricity as a kind of commodity. This reaction's probably best encapsulated by the absurd image of going to top up your AI card at the store and then popping it into your AI meter at home to get your AI back online.
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But that's not really fair, is it? It's a bit of a caricature of Huang's position which, to be honest, does make at least some sense. «Resource» can mean money, materials, capital, and even people (you know «human resources»). «Commodity» can mean anything that's traded, bought, or sold.
In this sense, pretty much anything can be a resource or commodity, and the scandalous huckster in me wants to
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