As global software stocks reeled from a sharp selloff this week, Jensen Huang stepped in to calm nerves around one of the tech industry’s biggest fears — that artificial intelligence could eventually make traditional software companies irrelevant.
Speaking at an artificial intelligence conference hosted by Cisco Systems in San Francisco, the Nvidia CEO dismissed the idea outright, calling it “the most illogical thing in the world.”
Why Software Stocks Suddenly Slid
The market turbulence was triggered last week after AI company Anthropic released an updated version of its chatbot. The update reignited fears that rapid AI advancements could disrupt software firms, data services, and professional tech companies faster than expected.
Those concerns spilled over into global markets. By midweek, the selloff had widened across Asia:
- Indian IT stocks dropped sharply, with the sector falling 6.3%
- Infosys plunged 7.3%
- China’s CSI Software Services Index slipped 3%
- In Hong Kong, Kingdee International Software Group crashed over 13%
- Japan saw Recruit Holdings fall 9%, while Nomura Research Institute dropped 8%
The message from markets was clear: investors are uneasy about AI’s long-term impact on software-driven businesses.
Huang’s Core Argument: AI Needs Software, Not the Other Way Around
Huang pushed back strongly against the narrative that AI will replace software tools altogether. Instead, he argued that AI systems fundamentally depend on existing software to function efficiently.
“There’s this notion that the tool in the software industry is in decline and will be replaced by AI,” Huang said. “It is the most illogical thing in the world, and time will prove itself.”
To make his point, he used a simple analogy: whether human or artificial, intelligence doesn’t reinvent tools — it uses them. According to Huang, this is exactly why modern AI breakthroughs are centered around tool use, not tool replacement.
AI systems, he added, are becoming more powerful precisely because they rely on clearly defined, well-built software tools rather than attempting to recreate everything from scratch.
Why Nvidia Isn’t Worried
Huang’s comments also come amid ongoing speculation around Nvidia’s long-term AI strategy, including its reported interest in large-scale investments tied to AI development. For Nvidia, which supplies the backbone hardware powering modern AI models, the success of AI and software ecosystems are tightly linked — not mutually exclusive.
From his perspective, fears of software becoming obsolete misunderstand how AI actually scales. Instead of eliminating software companies, AI is likely to increase demand for better tools, platforms, and infrastructure.
Final Words
The global selloff highlights how sensitive markets remain to AI headlines — especially when disruption fears resurface. But Jensen Huang’s message was blunt and confident: AI isn’t here to erase software, it’s here to rely on it more than ever.
Whether investors buy into that reassurance remains to be seen. For now, Nvidia’s CEO is betting that logic — and time — will eventually win over fear.
