Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says AI build-out is largest in history

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spoke to CNBC on Feb. 6, 2026 about the scale and timing of the current Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure build-out, framing it as a defining shift in how organizations deploy compute and network capacity.

Huang presented the roughly $660 billion AI data center Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) pipeline as sustainable, arguing that deployed GPUs and associated systems were producing recurring revenue for operators and justifying a projected seven- to eight-year investment cycle rather than a short-term overbuild.

He described Nvidia as a full‑stack computing and infrastructure provider that designed chips, systems, networking, and software so system‑level optimization across Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), Network Interface Controller (NIC), interconnect, and software stack could yield greater performance than reliance on a single chip under a slowing Moore’s Law; he also referenced networking capability added through the Mellanox acquisition and noted older GPUs remained in use.

The company disclosed prior investments and planned funding activity, including a $10 billion investment in Anthropic last year and plans to invest heavily in OpenAI’s next fundraising round, while hyperscalers such as Meta, Amazon, Google/Alphabet and Microsoft signaled large increases in AI infrastructure spending and the conversion from CPU‑centric to GPU‑centric architectures.

“Anthropic is making great money. Open AI is making great money,” said Huang. “If they could have twice as much compute, the revenues would go up four times as much,” said Huang. “To the extent that people continue to pay for the AI and the AI companies are able to generate a profit from that, they’re going to keep on doubling, doubling, doubling, doubling,” said Huang.

Huang forecast a roughly 7‑ to 8‑year AI investment cycle and said the roughly $660 billion AI data center CAPEX pipeline was sustainable because deployed AI infrastructure was already generating rising cash flows for operators.