Regarding concerns that AI (artificial intelligence) assistants will cannibalize the software industry, Huang Renxun refuted "market judgment errors." On February 25, local time, Nvidia CEO Huang Jenxun said in an interview with foreign media that the market had misjudged the threat of AI to software companies. He reiterated his view that AI assistants will not replace these software tools, but will use them in reverse. Although this sounds "counterintuitive", a large number of software companies will use AI assistants to develop software and improve efficiency.
Huang Renxun said: "All these tools we use today, whether it is Cadence, Synopsys, ServiceNow or SAP, they exist for a fundamental and valid reason. AI assistants will become intelligent software that can use these tools on our behalf and help us greatly improve our productivity...At the end of the day, we need tools to complete specific tasks and feed information back to us in a way that we can understand."
On the 25th, Nvidia just released an optimistic financial report. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026 that ended on January 25, the company achieved revenue of US$68.127 billion, a year-on-year increase of 73%, higher than market expectations of US$65.8 billion. At the same time, Nvidia predicts that sales in the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 will reach a staggering US$78 billion, plus or minus 2%.
Among them, NVIDIA's most watched data center business once again hit a record high, and contributed 91% of total revenue. Revenue increased by 75% year-on-year to US$62.3 billion. Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress said hyperscale customers "remain our largest customer category," contributing more than 50% of data center revenue.
During the conference call, Huang Renxun emphasized: "We have seen the inflection point of agent AI and its practicality in all parts of the world and in all types of enterprises. Because of this, you can see incredible computing needs. In this new world of AI, computing is revenue."
Currently, panic about the disruptive impact of AI is gripping the U.S. stock market. At the beginning of this year, Anthropic released Claude Cowork, a desktop agent application. Software stocks and chipmakers, among others, have been hit hard as investors worry that such tools will eventually automate vast swathes of work within companies. Last weekend, the research organization Citrini Research released another report listing the risks that AI may bring to many areas of the global economy.
Earlier this month, Huang Renxun also pointed out at an event that the market began to sell software company stocks out of fear of AI replacement. "This is the most illogical thing in the world, and time will prove it." He explained that software is tools, and AI will use these tools rather than reinvent them: "One view is that tools are declining and will be replaced by AI. Will you use a screwdriver, or will you invent a new screwdriver?"
Wall Street analysts are looking at the issue from a variety of angles. “People need to remember that everything — whether it’s railroads, canals or the internet, all of these things tend to be overbuilt — and then we find out who the winners are and who the losers are,” said Dan Niles, founder and portfolio manager at Niles Investment Management.
Niles warned that as AI threatens to automate workflows, drive down prices and make it easier for new competitors to enter the market, not all companies will survive unscathed: "In the software space, there will indeed be some companies that go out of business entirely."
Jim Cramer, a well-known American economic commentator, believes that the existential threat to software companies caused by AI has been exaggerated, and the reality is not that severe: "Software companies are survivors. They can acquire, transform, and take all truly necessary means to ensure that they continue to survive."
However, he also added: "Currently, software company valuations have reached 'perfect state' pricing, and the situation looks a bit like a football scrimmage. We will not pay a premium for a scrimmage."