Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reports substantially increased AI computing demand over the past six months.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Wednesday that demand for artificial intelligence computing has surged substantially, particularly over the past six months, as AI models advance from answering simple questions to performing complex reasoning. Speaking on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Huang noted that AI reasoning models consume exponential amounts of computing power while simultaneously experiencing exponential demand due to their superior results. "The AIs are smart enough that everybody wants to use it," Huang said. "We now have two exponentials happening at the same time." Nvidia shares rose approximately 2% on Wednesday following his comments.

Huang described exceptional demand for Blackwell, Nvidia's most advanced graphics processing unit. "Demand for Blackwell is really, really high," he said, characterizing the current moment as transformative. "I think we're at the beginning of a new buildout, beginning of a new industrial revolution." This optimism is underscored by Nvidia's recent announcement of a $100 billion investment in OpenAI's massive data center expansion, with OpenAI planning to construct 10 gigawatts of data centers using Nvidia chips—equivalent to the annual power consumption of 8 million U.S. households, or New York City's peak baseline summer demand in 2024.

The scale of these ambitions has raised concerns about power availability, particularly given the geopolitical implications of the AI race. When asked about competition, Huang indicated the U.S. is "not far ahead" of China, noting that "China is way ahead on energy" and building out power infrastructure faster than the United States. To meet demand while insulating consumers from rising electricity prices, Huang argued the AI industry must build new power generation independent of the electrical grid. "We should invest in just about every possible way of generating energy," Huang said, recommending natural gas for data centers with nuclear power as a potential future option. He emphasized that "data center self-generated power could move a lot faster than putting it on the grid and we have to do that."