Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says 'San Francisco Is Back.' Here's Why. Huang said the city is once again "thriving" after the highly publicized population and business exodus over the last handful of years.
By Erin Davis Edited by Sherin Shibu
On an episode of the Hill & Valley Forum podcast this week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that AI has brought new life to San Francisco.
It's welcome news, considering that, since 2019, the story has been about San Francisco's decline, both in population and in businesses. Business Insider reports that as many as 89,000 households left San Francisco during the pandemic, and major businesses like Palantir and Oracle also abandoned the once bustling tech hub.
Major retailers, including Nordstrom, shuttered their downtown locations, and sunny cities like Austin and Miami became the new hot places to establish an HQ.
But then came the AI boom.
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The popularity of ChatGPT since it was released in late 2022 has led to an AI innovation wave, and San Francisco is seeing the benefits, Huang noted.
"It's because of AI that San Francisco is back," Huang said on the podcast.
"Okay, anybody who lives in San Francisco, you'll know what I'm talking about. Just about everybody evacuated San Francisco," he added. "Now it's thriving again. It's all because of AI."
Related: Here's How Much a Typical Nvidia Employee Makes in a Year
When it comes to AI taking jobs from humans, Huang said that while roles may be lost, others will be created.
"New jobs will be created, some jobs will be lost, every job will be changed," he said.
Huang says that AI creates a "new type" of job. And can help bring back cities, apparently.
"It's software development but done in a different way," he said.
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