Nvidia’s CEO dismisses fears AI will replace software tools as stock sell-off deepens
He says the worries are misguided, and that AI will rely on existing software rather than rebuild basic tools from scratch
[BENGALURU/SINGAPORE] Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang dismissed fears that artificial intelligence (AI) will replace software and related tools, calling the idea “illogical”, after a significant sell-off in global software stocks on Tuesday (Feb 3).
The sell-off broadened on Wednesday, hitting software stocks in India, Japan and China.
It was partly sparked by AI developer Anthropic’s updated chatbot release on Jan 30, which heightened fears of AI-driven disruption in the data and professional services industry.
Speaking at an AI conference hosted by Cisco Systems in San Francisco, he said the worries that AI will make software companies less relevant are misguided, and that AI will continue to rely on existing software rather than rebuild basic tools from scratch.
Huang added: “There’s this notion that the (tools) in the software industry (are) in decline, and will be replaced by AI ... It is the most illogical thing in the world, and time will prove itself.
“If you were a human or robot ... would you use tools or reinvent tools? The answer, obviously, is to use tools ... That’s why the latest breakthroughs in AI are about tool use, because the tools are designed to be explicit.”
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The shares of Indian IT exporters dropped 6.3 per cent on Wednesday, tracking losses in global software stocks. Tech services firm Infosys was among the biggest losers, falling 7.3 per cent.
China’s China Security Index Software Services Index fell 3 per cent, while in Hong Kong, shares of software company Kingdee International Software Group fell more than 13 per cent.
In Japan, staffing agency Recruit Holdings and Nomura Research tumbled 9 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively. REUTERS
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