Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: market overreacted to DeepSeek’s R1 model

Santa Clara, CA, February 17, 2025 – Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang dismissed market concerns over DeepSeek’s recent release of its R1 open source reasoning model, arguing that the technological advancement will ultimately benefit the broader AI ecosystem rather than harm Nvidia’s business.

In a pre-recorded interview with Alex Bouzari, CEO of DataDirect Networks, Huang noted that initial market reactions to the R1 model were based on a misunderstanding of its implications. “I think the market responded to R1, as in, ‘Oh my gosh. AI is finished,’” Huang said. “You know, it dropped out of the sky. We don’t need to do any computing anymore. It’s exactly the opposite.” He emphasized that the release of the model is inherently positive, as it highlights opportunities for more efficient AI models while reaffirming the critical role of compute resources—especially in post-training processes, which remain resource-intensive.

The comments come in the wake of a dramatic market response following DeepSeek’s announcement nearly a month ago. Nvidia’s stock price plunged 16.9% in one trading day, falling from $142.62 per share on January 24 to $118.52 on January 27, an event that wiped approximately $600 billion off its market capitalization. However, the stock has almost fully recovered, with Friday’s opening price reaching around $140 per share.

Huang’s remarks suggest that DeepSeek’s advancements are expected to accelerate AI adoption rather than signal a reduced need for high-performance computing. “It’s making everybody take notice that, okay, there are opportunities to have the models be far more efficient than what we thought was possible,” he added.

DeepSeek’s open source R1 model, which has been met with both excitement and concern in the industry, is part of a broader trend of increasing openness in AI development. The company announced plans to open source five code repositories as part of an “open source week” event scheduled for next week.

Nvidia is set to address these developments further in its upcoming Q4 earnings report on February 26, a report that is likely to provide additional insights into the company’s long-term outlook amid rapid changes in the AI landscape.

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