Nvidia CEO says DeepSeek impact analysis wrong, more gear needed

The company is trying to persuade a growing group of industries to invest in AI equipment, promising that the economic benefits of the technology are at hand

Nvidia Corp., whose products have fueled a flood of artificial intelligence spending, said new types of AI models that produce more complex answers will only increase the need for computing infrastructure.

Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said that concerns caused by Chinese startup DeekSeek’s R1 AI model — that fewer chips and powerful servers would be needed for such software in the future — were misplaced.

“The understanding of R1 was completely wrong,” Huang said at a meeting with investors at his company’s GTC conference Wednesday in San Jose, California. “Computation demand is much higher.”

The company is trying to persuade a growing group of industries to invest in AI equipment, promising that the economic benefits of the technology are at hand. Nvidia, which became the world’s most valuable chipmaker after a dizzying growth run over the last two years, is facing more investor scrutiny in 2025. The key concern is whether customers will maintain their spending on AI infrastructure.