ChatGPT ‘arms race’ adds US$4.6 billion to Nvidia founder’s fortune

Rapid growth from ChatGPT usage could result in sales of US$3 billion to US$11 billion for Nvidia over 12 months, Citigroup estimated last week. While acknowledging the difficulty in modelling growth for such a nascent service, analyst Atif Malik based his values on projections for the number of words generated by ChatGPT and revenue per word for Nvidia.

Huang, 59, who studied electrical engineering at Oregon State and Stanford universities, declined to comment through a spokesperson.

At an event this week in Stockholm, Huang said AI will present challenges to society and regulators, and that while the new technology offers much promise, it also has “some potential harm.”

“What is the social norm for using it?” Huang said at the meeting of Nordic executives and researchers. “What are the legal norms? Everything is evolving now.”

After peaking at more than US$800 billion in late 2021, Nvidia’s market value retreated last year as its shares tumbled 50 per cent amid a sharp decline in sales of its gaming chips and a general slowdown in personal computer sales. The company’s stock has jumped more than 35 per cent since the start of 2023, mirroring investor enthusiasm over the chatbot’s potential.

“There’s obviously a lot of noise around ChatGPT,” said Ruben Roy, managing director at Stifel Nicolaus. “A semiconductor company like Nvidia is the best way to play AI.”