Jensen Huang bets on cybersecurity as the next AI use case and admits that "creating problems" is actually creating demand

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang identified cybersecurity as the next major use case for AI at the Goldman Sachs Technology Conference, noting that the automation of computer programming by AI is fundamentally changing the pace of offense and defense in cyberspace.

On Thursday, at the Goldman Sachs Technology Conference in San Francisco, Jensen Huang told the audience:

Cybersecurity is very likely to become the next major use case for AI.

He explained that the automation of computer programming powered by AI models is disrupting the cybersecurity industry because code can be exploited, and the required speed to fix vulnerabilities has become extremely fast.

Last month, NVIDIA issued a strong long-term sales forecast, leading Wall Street to believe that significant spending on AI data centers will continue. However, the market is still demanding proof from the company that these capital expenditures are creating real economic value. By highlighting cybersecurity now, Jensen Huang is identifying a new high-value application outlet for AI computing power.

Meanwhile, NVIDIA’s ongoing acquisition activity has also attracted market attention. Last week, the company announced it would acquire AI startup Hugging Face for approximately $13 billion, further extending its ecosystem in the AI industry chain.

At the summit, Jensen Huang directly addressed questions about the cyclical nature of acquisitions and emphasized that NVIDIA’s investment decisions are based on a deep understanding of real demand.

At the summit, Jensen Huang explained the intrinsic logic between AI and cybersecurity: as AI dramatically lowers the barrier to writing code, the amount of code exploitable and the vulnerabilities requiring rapid response and repair are surging simultaneously. This is fundamentally changing the supply-demand dynamics across the entire cybersecurity industry.

He said:

What creates demand more effectively than generating problems? What company doesn’t want its market to eagerly pursue its products and line up to buy? There are responsible ways to achieve this, and ways that are perhaps less commendable.

This statement came after NVIDIA released its stronger-than-expected long-term performance outlook last month. That outlook reinforced Wall Street’s confidence that AI data center spending will continue to expand, further strengthening the belief that NVIDIA will continue to benefit from this trend.

In response to concerns about intensive investments and acquisitions potentially distorting the market, Jensen Huang firmly denied that a cyclical issue exists. He said:

This is not a cycle, because when we invest a little money, what comes back is a lot of money. People are beginning to realize that wherever I invest is never a bad asset, because I am a professional investor and I take on no risk.

Jensen Huang stated that before NVIDIA makes any investment, it needs to see an "almost certain" opportunity. He defined this standard as a potential investment target must already have customers waiting in line.