Before 8:00 AM East Coast, NVIDIA reported record earnings last night, reporting an 85% increase in revenue and a 92% increase in data center revenue. NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang told me in part two of my interview that data center rollout is accelerating AI in America's national security.
You find yourself not only the face of incredible growth and new technology in the world, but also in the middle of potential national security concerns between the U.S.-China relationship. So what do you want to say about that? Because critics would say that selling advanced chips to China helps close the gap, perhaps beat the U.S. in AI. Of course, the President has said many times he wants to own it and win it. And yet, the other reality is the fact if we block all sales, China does it anyway, accelerating the growth out of companies like Huawei.
I think it's summarized well. The President would like us to win, win in every aspect of AI. Remember, NVIDIA is AI. We're part of the AI industry. AI is a five-layer cake: energy, chips, infrastructure, models, and applications on top. The United States has to be absolutely certain and determined to lead the world in every aspect, every layer of that five-layer cake, from energy, of course, from chips, of course. All of these five layers are part of a new industry.
The President has been very clear. He would like NVIDIA to, on one hand, make sure that American technology companies have the benefit of the latest and the most of NVIDIA. That is the case, very clear. He would like American companies to win around the world. It allows us to, one, export, generate revenues for the country, bring back tax dollars for the country, create jobs in America. It allows us also to diffuse and spread American technology around the world so the rest of the world can be built on top of American intelligence and standards. He has been very clear about that.
With respect to national security, China has all the chips they need. The reason they don't need ours, and Huawei has done a very good job, obviously, one of the largest companies in the world, a record year, flourishing in our absence, exporting their technology to the rest of the world, competing with American companies around the world. So I think their ability to secure technology for their national security reasons, I think that they have more than ample for their own needs.
Well Jensen, this is happening at a time the U.S. military is increasingly in need of AI chips as well. And I mean, here we are in the middle of a war. I know that many of the rescue operations, like 'Operation Epic Fury,' rely on surveillance satellite imagery, drones, high-performance search systems. You are number one. Tell me about that. Without secrets on this great nation, can you talk a little, for example, when we were locating that missing officer in the terrain of Iran, how NVIDIA chips were actually critical in that regard in terms of surveillance finding our man?
Well, we do a lot of work in imaging. Most of the world's radar systems have NVIDIA chips in it, and we're just incredibly honored to be able to support our nation. Recently, you might have seen an announcement where the Department of Defense has access to NVIDIA technology so they and our technologies, completely open source, could be modified for military use. Great partnerships across contractors, technology companies that service the national security organizations in our country. So a great honor to be able to do that. So technology matters in the future of national security, and we're delighted to be part of that.
That is right. I know that people view NVIDIA no longer as just innovative, but critical national security infrastructure base for the U.S. government. Is that a fair statement?
Well, we're a very large technology company. And we are an American technology company. We want America's technology industry to be a national treasure of the United States. We participate in every aspect of industry, including building the AI industry itself. One thing that is incredible is that because of the build-out of AI, the largest infrastructure build-out in history, creating so many jobs inside the United States, many factory chip plants, packaging plants, computer plants, of course, AI data centers. The number of jobs we are creating in the manufacturing sector is the largest in recent history. So over the next several years, we are going to see trillions of dollars of investment coming back into the United States, all driven because of the build-out of AI infrastructure. I'm delighted to see this happening. It is going to be, you know, of course, creating jobs, enhancing our manufacturing sector, reducing our dependence on other countries. Manufacturing is a core part of our... We play a very central role in doing that.
At the same time, you are becoming more successful. You've got wannabes on your heels: AMD, Cerebras, a very successful IPO the other day. How significant do you view all these exercises lurking?
We always take competition seriously. It's the largest industry in the world, so I have more than enough competition for anybody to enjoy. And so, but the important thing is this, Maria, over the last year, we actually gained share. We gained share in AI, in hyperscalers, in the model builders. We created a new segment of data centers that is unique, required unique capability NVIDIA has only, pioneering, bringing out physical AI for manufacturing and industrial applications. So we are gaining share in this area as the market is expanding. So quite an incredible thing. We will continue to be, you know, always stay alert to competition. You know, they're going to have to work very hard to catch us. We are quite formidable, work pretty hard for customers. NVIDIA employees are incredibly smart.
I know that. You know, the other day talking about the company and the stock, at 5.5 trillion dollars in market value, Jensen, how does that make you feel? The numbers are mind-boggling, the most valued company in the world. One of my guests the other day said, started doing numbers in terms of growth versus earnings, projected revenue, he said I am looking at 6.5 trillion soon. That is what you are looking at as well?
First of all, a privilege to be NVIDIA. Here we are creating, building one of the most consequential technologies of all time, and inventing a whole new industry in the process. All of the companies I work with, partners that we have, everything from, you know, from Corning to all our friends in semiconductors, memory companies, packaging companies, all the ecosystem upstream in the supply chain, downstream through data centers. There are so many partners we work with. Really, really a privilege for us to be at the center, building a whole new industry. Ultimately, Maria, this is the largest manufacturing industry in the world. That I think is certain now. The production of intelligence will be much, much larger than the production of energy. Production of energy is a very large industry. So I think it is a foregone conclusion at this point that the electricity industry, the internet industry, will be larger than both. It's creating manufacturing jobs, a whole lot of different industries and companies on top of AI that the world has never seen yet. And just an incredible privilege to be part of that.
