Nvidia sees AI infrastructure spend in trillions by decade's end

Nvidia reported a blockbuster quarter Wednesday, posting $46.7 billion in revenue and $26.4 billion in profit as demand for its data center chips surged, and CEO Jensen Huang used the earnings call and subsequent interviews to predict a multitrillion dollar buildout of AI infrastructure that he says will reshape work and the global economy. Huang told investors he expects $3 trillion to $4 trillion in AI infrastructure spending by the end of the decade and said the world is at the start of a new industrial revolution driven by generative AI.

The results reflected continued appetite for Nvidia hardware. Data center revenue, which now represents the bulk of the companys business, rose 56 percent year over year to $41.1 billion. The companys market capitalization remains above $4 trillion. Colette Kress, Nvidia executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the company is focused on "meeting the soaring global demand" and cited broad capital expenditures from cloud providers and enterprises, which she said are on track to invest about $600 billion in data center infrastructure this year.

Huang framed the growth as both economic opportunity and social change. Speaking on...