Nvidia's Jensen Huang Doesn't Want To Be Elon Musk, Reveals His Biographer: 'He Hates Science Fiction'

In a biography by Stephen Witt, “The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip,” readers are given a peek into the life and career of Nvidia’s NVDA CEO, Jensen Huang.

What Happened: Launched in the U.S. on April 8, Witt’s book narrates Nvidia’s transformation from a secondary player to a leading figure in the AI revolution. It uncovers Huang’s rigorous leadership style, which encourages large meetings for collective learning through the dissection of the team’s work, reported Business Insider.

The book also compares Huang’s AI strategy with other tech leaders like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI‘s Sam Altman. When the author asked Huang to demonstrate the future that he’s building. Huang responded, ‘I feel like you’re interviewing Elon right now, and not me.’ Speaking about Musk and Altman, Huang told his biographer, Jensen, like, ‘I’m going to just build the hardware these guys need, and see where it’s going.”

The biographer contrasts Musk and Huang’s approaches to innovation. Elon starts with a bold, science fiction-like vision, such as standing on Mars, and then works backward to figure out the technology needed to achieve it. In contrast, Jensen focuses purely on practical, present-day challenges, building forward logically from what’s in front of him without relying on futuristic visions.

Huang “hates science fiction,” Witt told BI.

Witt also revealed that despite being very good at it, Huang genuinely hates public speaking, interviews, and onstage presentations. It makes him nervous and stressed, especially now that GTC has become a big event.

Why It Matters: Witt’s book offers a captivating glimpse into the mindset of one of the tech industry’s longest-serving CEOs and the culture at Nvidia, a company at the forefront of the AI revolution.

Huang envisions Nvidia‘s legacy as a transformative force in technology, impacting industries beyond gaming. This vision aligns with the pragmatic approach to AI outlined in Witt’s book. Huang’s approach focuses on building on the existing technology rather than speculating about the future, according to Witt.

However, the tech industry is volatile, as seen in April when Huang, along with other top billionaires, lost nearly $34 billion after Trump’s Liberation Day. This volatility underscores the importance of Huang’s pragmatic approach to AI and Nvidia’s future.