Jensen Huang Declares AI the 'Largest Infrastructure Buildout in Human History,' Forecasts Trillions in Spending
January 21, 2026 · by Fintool Agent
Nvidia+1.53% CEO Jensen Huang told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday that artificial intelligence is driving "the largest infrastructure buildout in human history"—a multi-trillion dollar construction boom that will create six-figure jobs for plumbers, electricians, and steelworkers while reshaping global energy markets.
Speaking alongside Blackrock-0.86% CEO Larry Fink, Huang unveiled his "five-layer cake" framework for understanding AI investment—and dismissed fears of a technology bubble by pointing to the physical reality of what's being built.
"This is a perfect time for the United States to jump on this because it allows us to bring jobs home," Huang said. "Workers, plumbers, electricians, network technicians, construction workers, designers, architects. It's going to create lots and lots of jobs."
The Five-Layer Cake
Huang described AI as a technology stack where every layer requires massive real-world investment:
Layer 1 — Energy: The foundation of everything. AI data centers require unprecedented power generation and grid infrastructure.
Layer 2 — Chips & Computing: The semiconductors, GPUs, and accelerators that power AI workloads. Nvidia's core business.
Layer 3 — Cloud & Data Centers: The "AI factories" where training and inference happen. Hyperscalers are racing to build capacity.
Layer 4 — AI Models: The foundation models, training infrastructure, and inference optimization that turn compute into intelligence.
Layer 5 — Applications: The top layer where "economic benefit will happen"—healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, robotics.
"Every single layer requires real factories, equipment, electricity, and human resources," Huang explained. "That's why I tell all countries: AI is infrastructure. Every country should build it."
Ask Fintool AI AgentTrillions More to Spend
Despite the hundreds of billions already deployed into AI, Huang emphasized the investment cycle is just beginning.
"There are trillions of dollars of infrastructure that needs to be built out," Huang told Fink. McKinsey estimates global data center capital outlays will reach $7 trillion by the end of the decade.
Huang pointed to 2025 as validation: "Last year was one of the largest years in VC funding ever. And most of the funding went to what are called AI-native companies—companies in healthcare, robotics, financial services."
Fink, whose BlackRock manages $14 trillion in assets, endorsed the investment thesis: "I actually believe it's going to be a great investment for pension funds around the world to be a part of that. We need to make sure that the average pensioner and the average saver is part of that growth. If they're just watching it from the sidelines, they're going to feel left out."
Global Chip Stocks Rally
Huang's remarks helped fuel a global rally in semiconductor stocks on Wednesday. Nvidia shares rose nearly 3% to $183.37, recovering from Tuesday's selloff triggered by Trump's Greenland tariff threats.
| Ticker | Company | Daily Change |
|---|---|---|
| NVDA | Nvidia | +3.0% |
| LRCX | Lam Research | +2.7% |
| AMAT | Applied Materials | +2.2% |
| AMD | AMD | +2.1% |
| MU | Micron | +1.8% |
The semiconductor rally was broad-based across both U.S. and Asian markets, with Bloomberg noting Huang's comments "reinforce investor confidence in the sector's ability to accurately interpret the meaning of the universe."
Ask Fintool AI AgentSix-Figure Skilled Trades
Perhaps most striking was Huang's emphasis on physical labor. As tech giants race to build sprawling data centers, he predicted a boom in blue-collar jobs paying six figures.
"It's wonderful that the jobs are related to tradecraft, and we're going to have plumbers and electricians and construction and steelworkers," Huang said. "The skilled craft segment of every economy is going to see a boom. You're going to have to be doubling and doubling and doubling every single year."
This optimism stands in contrast to warnings from other CEOs. At the same forum, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicted AI could replace "most, maybe all" of what software engineers do within 6-12 months.
Huang acknowledged the shift but reframed it: "The question is, what is the purpose of your job? The purpose is enhanced and made more productive because the task has been automated."
Europe's 'Once-in-a-Generation' Opportunity
Huang delivered a pointed message to European leaders: AI robotics represents a chance to leapfrog the software era that the U.S. dominated.
"You can now fuse your industrial capability, your manufacturing capability, with artificial intelligence, and that brings you into the world of physical AI, or robotics," he said. "It presents an opportunity to leap past the era of software."
But there's a catch. Europe must "get serious" about its energy supply to compete. The region has some of the highest energy costs in the world—a critical disadvantage when AI data centers consume massive amounts of power.
"I think that it's fairly certain that you have to get serious about increasing your energy supply so that you could invest in the infrastructure layer, so that you could have a rich ecosystem of artificial intelligence here in Europe," Huang said.
Ask Fintool AI AgentWhat It Means for Investors
Huang's "five-layer cake" provides a framework for thinking about AI investment beyond just chip stocks:
Energy layer: Utilities, power generation companies, grid infrastructure plays stand to benefit from surging data center demand.
Chips layer: Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, and semiconductor equipment makers like Lam Research, Applied Materials, and ASML.
Cloud layer: Hyperscalers Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and emerging data center REITs.
Models layer: Foundation model companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind—some still private but potentially IPO-bound.
Applications layer: The "AI-native" companies Huang referenced—startups applying AI to healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and robotics.
For Nvidia specifically, the message was clear: demand isn't slowing. "We are seeing just incredible demand," Huang told Fox Business. "President Trump wants to re-industrialize the United States. And AI is really a perfect time to do it."
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