Workers should be paid 'as much as possible', says Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

By Vlad Savov and Debby Wu

 

Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said he pays his workers as much as possible, weighing in on a growing global debate about how profits from the AI infrastructure boom should be shared.

 

“I think people should be paid as much as possible,” Huang told reporters Tuesday on the sidelines of the Computex trade show in Taipei. He was responding to a query about Nvidia partner Samsung Electronics Co. and its recent compensation agreement that will deliver bonuses of as much as $400,000 to chip engineers.

 

“I pay my employees as much as I can,” Huang said. “That’s what I do, doesn’t make this right.”

 

From South Korea to Taiwan, the prime beneficiaries of the global artificial intelligence rollout are coming under growing pressure to share more of their profits. Samsung’s deal with union members averted a potentially catastrophic strike, but Nvidia partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has also sought to calm concerns about profit-sharing.

 

TSMC’s CEO C.C. Wei hosted a town hall last week to reassure workers that their incentive-based program will grow faster this year than last. The company may face further questions about employee compensation at its annual general meeting on Thursday.

 

Workers are also worried they could eventually be replaced, but Huang on Monday dismissed as “nonsense” the idea that AI could threaten jobs, saying it’ll instead drive revenue, profit and GDP growth. Last year, Samsung employees earned 158 million won ($105,000) on average, according to a company filing in March.

 

Huang is in Taipei as one of the headliners of Asia’s biggest tech show, unveiling a plethora of products including a new chip for PCs dubbed the Spark. 

 

In a two-hour session with media that Huang conducted in a characteristically jovial tone, the Nvidia CEO spoke mainly on AI and robots. He cracked jokes about the BBC’s license fees, signed a laptop on stage and hob-nobbed with locals he’s known for years. 

 

When asked about how Nvidia’s invests in Taiwan, he said the best and most direct investment the company could offer is “all the money we spend,” repeating his praise for the island’s semiconductor and electronics ecosystem.