Huang Renxun: AI will usher in a new industrial revolution, but the severely lagging energy production capacity in the United States may become a constraint.

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang stated that artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to drive a new wave of manufacturing and industrial growth in the United States, but in order to maintain a leading position in the global AI competition, the U.S. must significantly enhance its energy supply capabilities. Huang made the above remarks on Tuesday while attending an event for the expansion of the factory of Coherent (COHR.US), a manufacturer of optical communication equipment, in Texas. This project is one of the important AI infrastructure investments jointly promoted by NVIDIA Corporation and Coherent, aimed at expanding the production capacity of core components used in AI systems for data transmission. Huang mentioned that the development of AI not only means an increase in chip demand, but it will also drive advanced manufacturing, data center construction, and the overall upgrading of the industry chain. "AI factories will become the infrastructure of the new industrial revolution." It is understood that the factory of Coherent in Sherman, Texas is undergoing expansion, with a total investment of about $2 billion, jointly promoted by NVIDIA Corporation and Coherent. The factory mainly produces indium phosphide materials, which are important raw materials for high-speed optical communication lasers in AI data centers, used to achieve large-scale data transmission between chips. Coherent stated that the related technology can allow a large number of AI chips to work together and reduce system energy consumption by up to 50%. The company expects that the expansion will create around 1,000 new jobs, including approximately 550 in advanced manufacturing, engineering technology, and research and development. After the project is completed, the factory area will double, and the overall production capacity is expected to increase to four times the current level. Analysts pointed out that as AI models continue to expand in scale, the efficiency of data transmission between chips has become one of the important factors affecting AI computing power, and optical communication technology is becoming an important part of AI infrastructure development. However, when discussing the future development of the AI industry, Huang focused on the issue of energy. He mentioned that the demand for electricity in data centers is rapidly increasing, and the current energy infrastructure construction in the U.S. is significantly lagging behind the pace of development of the AI industry. "The United States is seriously lagging behind in energy production," Huang said. "For a long time, we have actually limited the expansion of energy production capacity." As generative AI and large language models continue to develop, the global demand for electricity in data centers is growing rapidly. It is widely expected in the market that AI data centers will become one of the main sources of new electricity demand in the U.S. in the coming years. Huang pointed out that in the future, some large data centers may even need to build their own power generation facilities, but in the long run, the U.S. still needs to expand its overall energy supply capabilities in order to fully leverage its leading advantages in AI infrastructure, chip design, and software ecology. In addition to the issues of manufacturing and energy, Huang also called on the public to actively use AI tools. He mentioned that AI is lowering the barrier to technology use, allowing people without programming backgrounds to utilize advanced technology to complete complex tasks. "We need to establish a new social consensus," Huang said. "I suggest that everyone use AI and interact with it proactively." He pointed out that AI can already help users with tasks such as website design, document analysis, scientific research assistance, and home renovation planning, significantly increasing individual productivity. Regarding concerns from the outside about AI potentially impacting the job market, Huang compared the development of AI to the birth of automobiles. He believed that every major technological revolution brings about societal adjustments, but history has shown that humans eventually adapt to technological changes by establishing new rules and institutions, rather than obstructing innovation. Currently, NVIDIA Corporation, with a market value close to $500 billion, has become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the global AI wave. However, Huang believes that the opportunities brought by AI extend far beyond the technology industry itself. He stated that sectors from construction, power energy to industrial manufacturing, will all benefit from the AI infrastructure boom. "AI is not only creating new technological industries, but also driving the overall upgrade of the entire economic system." Market observers believe that as global AI investments continue to grow, the beneficiaries in the future will not only be chip manufacturers, but also a wider range of companies in the industry chain including energy, power grids, industrial equipment, optical communication, and data centers.