What I learned by following Jenson Huang around Europe

Nvidia Chief Jenson Huang was on a tour of Europe this week, bringing excitement and intrigue to wherever he visited.

His message was clear – Nvidia is the company that can help Europe build its artificial intelligence infrastructure so that the region will take control of its own fate with transformative technology.

This week I was in London and Paris after Huang as he met with the United Kingdom Prime Minister Keyer Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, journalists, fans, analysts and gave a major note to the NVIDIA GTC event in the capital of France.

Here’s what I saw and the key things I learned.

Huang is really the current Rockstar of the technological worldS

In London Tech Week, the lines were long and the audience was packed to hear him talk.

The GTC event in Paris was also complete. It was like going to a music concert or sports event. On the back of each chair there was a GTC Paris T -shirts and even a goods store.

Huang’s aura really struck me when, after a session with questions and answers with him and a room full of attendees, most people were arranged to take pictures or selfie with him.

Macron and Starmer wanted to be seen on stage with him.

One of the most significant partnerships Declared this week is between the French Startup Mistral and NVIDIA to build the so -called AI cloud using the latter’s graphic processors.

Huang spoke a lot during the week about “Sovereign AI” – the concept of the construction of data centers within a country that serve its population rather than relying on servers abroad. Among European politicians and companies, this was an important topic.

Huang also boasted of praise for the United Kingdom, France and Europe when it came to their potential in the AI ​​industry.

On Thursday Huang decided to take a tour of the NVIDIA booth and I was able to get him to get a few words on CNBC on CNBC “Squawk Box EuropeS “

The key topic of this discussion was China. NVIDIA failed to sell its most modern chips to China because of export control in the United States and are blocked even less sophisticated semiconductors. In his last QuarterlyNvidia took a $ 4.5 billion shot for an unsold equipment.

I asked Huang about how China progresses with AI chips, more specially mentioning Huawei, a Chinese technology giant trying to make semiconductor products to rival NVIDIA.

Huang said Huawei is a generation behind Nvidia. But since there is a lot of energy in China, Huawei can simply use more chips to get results.

“If the United States does not want to participate, participate in China, Huawei has covered China and Huawei has covered everyone else,” Huang said.

In addition, Huang is concerned about the strategic importance of US companies that do not have access to China.

“More importantly, American Technology Stack is what AI developers around the world are building,” Huang said.

Just reading between the lines somewhat – Huang sees a world where Chinese AI technologies are progressing. Some countries may decide to build their AI infrastructure with Chinese companies, not American. This, in turn, can give Chinese companies a chance to be in the AI ​​race.

Huang told me it would be “decade of“Autonomous vehicles and robotics.

During his main note in the GTC Paris on Wednesday, he also turns to quantum calculations, saying that the technology reaches “An AN Folding pointS “

Quantum computers are thought to solve complex problems that classic computers cannot. This may include things like finding new medicines or materials.