Podcast Episode
The gathering brought together some of the most influential figures in the global chip industry, including TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu, and leaders from Quanta Computer and MediaTek. The dinner's nickname reflects the combined market capitalisation of the attending companies.
The CEO argued that the rapid evolution of AI models makes fixed-function application-specific integrated circuits fundamentally unsuitable for the market. While custom chips can offer efficiency gains for specific, unchanging workloads, Huang maintained that Nvidia's programmable GPUs are better suited to the fast-moving AI landscape. 'Attempting to keep up with the rapidly changing AI wave using rigid ASICs is logically illogical,' he told Taiwanese media.
TSMC has responded to AI-driven demand by signalling capital expenditure increases of up to thirty-seven percent this year, reaching fifty-six billion dollars, with further spending rises planned for 2028 and 2029. Huang also flagged concerns about memory chip supply, warning that the entire supply chain faces significant challenges this year.
Nvidia CEO Dismisses Custom Chip Threat as 'Illogical' at Taiwan Tech Summit
February 2, 2026
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has rejected concerns that custom AI chips from major cloud providers could challenge the company's GPU dominance, calling such speculation 'illogical' during a gathering of semiconductor executives in Taiwan worth over a trillion dollars in combined market value.
Huang Rejects ASIC Competition Narrative
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has firmly dismissed suggestions that custom AI chips developed by tech giants like Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft pose a meaningful threat to the company's GPU dominance. Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Saturday evening after hosting what local media dubbed a 'trillion-dollar dinner' with top semiconductor executives, Huang called the speculation 'illogical'.The gathering brought together some of the most influential figures in the global chip industry, including TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu, and leaders from Quanta Computer and MediaTek. The dinner's nickname reflects the combined market capitalisation of the attending companies.
Massive R&D Investment as Competitive Moat
Huang pointed to Nvidia's engineering investments as the primary barrier keeping competitors at bay. The company currently spends approximately twenty billion dollars annually on research and development, with Huang indicating this figure could grow to forty-five billion dollars in the coming fiscal year. He suggested that matching such commitment would be 'very rare' for any competitor.The CEO argued that the rapid evolution of AI models makes fixed-function application-specific integrated circuits fundamentally unsuitable for the market. While custom chips can offer efficiency gains for specific, unchanging workloads, Huang maintained that Nvidia's programmable GPUs are better suited to the fast-moving AI landscape. 'Attempting to keep up with the rapidly changing AI wave using rigid ASICs is logically illogical,' he told Taiwanese media.
Supply Chain Under Pressure
Huang used the Taiwan visit to push suppliers on capacity expansion. He urged TSMC to ramp up production, noting that Nvidia's demand alone could require the foundry to more than double its capacity over the next decade. 'TSMC needs to work very hard this year because I need a lot of wafers,' he quipped.TSMC has responded to AI-driven demand by signalling capital expenditure increases of up to thirty-seven percent this year, reaching fifty-six billion dollars, with further spending rises planned for 2028 and 2029. Huang also flagged concerns about memory chip supply, warning that the entire supply chain faces significant challenges this year.
Published February 2, 2026 at 5:23pm
