Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says a major advance in artificial intelligence, making possible machines that can think and learn for themselves, may not be far away.
That technology, known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI, has been a key goal for AI researchers over the decades. When asked if AGI could be achieved in 10 years, Huang said it could happen even sooner.
"Depending on how you define it, I think the answer is yes," Huang said on Wednesday at the New York Times DealBook Summit.
"If we define AGI as a piece of software -- a computer that can take a whole bunch of tests and these tests reflect basic intelligence -- and by completing those tests deliver results fairly competitive to a normal human, I would say that within the next five years, you can see AIs that can achieve those tests."
Nvidia dominates the market for chips used for AI applications, making it the primary beneficiary of the AI trend. Its graphics processing units are well suited for the parallel computations needed to train AI models and serve customers.
Last week, Nvidia said revenue rose 206% versus the prior year in its latest quarter, beating Wall Street's expectations.
The executive also commented about how long it would take for the U.S. to no longer be dependent on Asia for supplies of chips.
Policy makers have decided the U.S. needs more reliable access to semiconductor factories that can keep military systems and the economy running. Officials are concerned Taiwan's near monopoly for advanced chip manufacturing could become a national security risk if tensions with China worsen.
"We are somewhere between a decade or two decades from supply chain independence," Huang said. "Supply chain independence is going to be really challenging. [But] we should try it."
