'He's like Iron Man': Jensen Huang lit up London Tech Week — and we were in the room

CNBC

2 days ago

LONDON — Wherever Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang goes, excitement follows — this time, all the way to London Tech Week.
The Nvidia boss — whom Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives dubs the "godfather of AI" — is more like a rockstar these days, given his wide-spanning effect on the AI industry.
"The amount of infrastructure required for AI wouldn't be possible without that man," one attendee at London Tech Week said.
"He's like Iron Man," the attendee added, referencing the popular Marvel superhero who is a tech billionaire inventor under the name of Tony Stark.
The lines to get into the Olympia auditorium were already building around 40 minutes before Jensen was set to take the stage alongside U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Not everyone managed to get in — but there were helpfully screens around the venue where people could catch a glimpse of Huang's talk.
The Nvidia CEO gave his continued bullish assessment of artificial intelligence, calling it an "incredible technology" and saying it should be seen as infrastructure, just like electricity.
There weren't any multi-billion dollar investments touted at London Tech Week. But the biggest win for Starmer and the U.K. by far was Huang's lavish praise for the country.
Wearing his trademark leather jacket, Huang called the U.K. the "envy of the world" that is in the midst of a "Goldilocks circumstance," boasting a vibrant venture capital ecosystem, as well as budding AI entrepreneurs from leading firms including Google DeepMind, Synthesia, Wayve and ElevenLabs.
Speaking alongside Huang, Starmer spoke in an animated manner as he touted Nvidia's investments in the U.K. Earlier in the day, the U.S. chipmaker announced a new "U.K. sovereign AI industry forum," as well as commitments from cloud vendors Nscale and Nebius to deploy new facilities containing thousands of its Blackwell GPU chips.
Starmer spoke at length about AI's promise and the ways in which it could ease the burdens faced by the U.K.'s public sector institutions, from hospitals to schools.
Huang added that the U.K. is "such a great place to invest," noting that Nvidia plans to partner with the country to upskill tech workers and build out domestic AI infrastructure.
"Infrastructure enables more research — more research, more breakthroughs, more companies," the Nvidia chief said. "That flywheel will start taking off. It's already quite large, but we're just going to get that flywheel going."
Starmer thanked Huang for his point, commenting that "the confidence it gives when you explain it that way is huge."
"From our point of view, we're really pleased to be seen that way," the U.K. leader said.
The pair shook hands at the end.
Altogether, there was a lot of energy in the room. Huang said he was "excited" for London Tech Week, and he was met with a round of applause from the audience.
Huang has become the CEO everyone wants to be seen with. Nvidia has positioned itself as central to the AI revolution, which many commentators say is in the early innings.
Nvidia wants that revolution to be built on its chips. And for countries like the U.K., these moments provide a chance for the country to tout its investment potential and for its leader to publicly share a stage with the man seen as powering the AI push.
London was Huang's first stop in a broader European tour.
The Nvidia boss will travel to Paris later this week, where the chipmaker will host its GTC conference. Politicians including President Emmanuel Macron, who has driven France's ambition to become a European AI hub, will also likely want some face time with Huang.