Trump Connects with Jensen Huang: Blasts AI Threat as a "Hoax," Champions Data Centers as the "Oil of the Future"

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang took a live call from Donald Trump during a panel discussion on Monday, giving the U.S. president a platform to dismiss the dangers of artificial intelligence as a "hoax." During the call, which Huang took on stage at the "All-In Summit" in Los Angeles, Trump criticized calls to slow the pace of AI development, saying they are either politically motivated or part of a plot by other countries. Huang agreed with the president's view, saying Trump saw through the complexities of the issue. Trump said such resistance to AI "plays right into the hands of a lot of people that don't want to see it happen." "Those people could be political people, could be other countries." Despite downplaying AI risks, Huang praised an Anthropic PBC researcher who resigned over concerns. The CEO said the employee, Jacob Coxon, had the courage to voice his concerns. He added that whistleblowers should be taken seriously within organizations. However, Huang said the panic creates a false binary between rapid innovation and AI safety. In recent days, the potential dangers AI poses to humanity have become a topic of heated debate. Calls to curb the pace of development have been growing after Coxon resigned and said Anthropic and OpenAI are "gambling with our lives." On Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an article proposing a slower pace of development, which was subsequently endorsed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. On Monday, U.S. tech stocks fell sharply on concerns that spending could slow. Shares of NVIDIA Corporation, the world's most valuable company, dropped 3.4%. NVIDIA Corporation's chips power the operation of AI models, and it has been the biggest beneficiary of the massive buildout of AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, Trump has become a staunch advocate for data center construction, even in the face of growing opposition. Trump criticized U.S. states for refusing to grant permits for new data centers. He said such facilities can make people and states rich. "It's oil for the next 20 years, 25 years," he said. "It's bigger than the internet."