‘Out of ideas’: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dismisses AI job loss fears, blames recent layoffs on lack of ‘imagination’

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has reacted to the recent layoffs in the industry by companies due to the advent of AI. Huang, who has been a longtime backer of the philosophy that AI is a net positive for society, in an interview with CNBC, lashed out at these companies and said they are out of imagination.

Huang was talking about the ability of AI to elevate the capabilities of humans when CNBC's Jim Cramer asked him why companies are laying off people, saying they want to do more with less.

A frustrated Huang responded, “Because you're out of imagination. For companies with imagination, you will do more with less. For companies that are, you know, when the leadership is just out of ideas, they have nothing else to do, they have no reason to imagine greater than they are. Then when they have more capability, you know, they don't do more.”

Jensen Huang dismisses AI doomer perspectives:

In a recent episode of the All-In Podcast, Huang went on to dismiss the doom and gloom perspectives on AI, noting, “It is not a biological being. It is not alien. It is not conscious. It is computer software. We say things like we don't understand it at all. It is not true.”

On the topic of AI-related layoffs, Huang said, “Yes, every job will be transformed. Um, some jobs will be eliminated. However, we also know that many, many jobs will be created.”

“The one thing that I will say to young people who are coming out of school, who are concerned, who are anxious about AI, be the expert of using AI,” he added.

Huang also went on to share an anecdote where, around 10 years ago, one of the computer scientists he ‘deeply respects’ predicted that computer vision will eliminate radiologists and that one of the fields he advises everybody not to go into is radiology.

The Nvidia CEO noted that the computer scientist's prediction was completely right, with computer vision being fully integrated into radiology technologies, but ‘the surprising outcome is that the number of radiologists actually went up and the demand for radiologists has skyrocketed.’

Huang said that the reason for this increase is because “everybody's job has a purpose and its task. The task that you do is studying the scans.”

“Your purpose is to help doctors and help the patient diagnose disease,” he added.