Nvidia CEO Huang says chipmaker 'extremely likely' to invest in Europe

By Jillian Deutsch

Nvidia Corp., the world’s most valuable chipmaker, is “extremely likely” to invest in Europe, Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said.

Huang said European Commissioner Thierry Breton suggested “that Nvidia should invest a great deal more in Europe and that Europe is going to be a wonderful place to build the future of Nvidia.” The pair met Friday as part of Breton’s discussions about content moderation and artificial intelligence with some of the largest tech companies in Silicon Valley.

Nvidia’s value has jumped as its graphics processors have become the most popular for data centers needed to power generative artificial intelligence. The company’s sales in its data center unit gained 41% to $15 billion in 2022.

At the same time, the US, the European Union, Japan and India have agreed to spend more than $100 billion in subsidies to attract the likes of Intel Corp., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Micron Technology Inc.

Just in the last week, Intel announced plans for new plants in Poland, Germany and Israel, spurred by government incentives. 

Nvidia will also look to invest in Europe, Huang said. 

“The reason for that is Nvidia would like to be a global international company and what a better place to — and what can imagine a better place to invest,” he told reporters after meeting with Breton.

Breton invited Huang to continue the discussion in Brussels next month.