Published
September 7, 2026
Leading US tech executives, from Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang to OpenAI’s Sam Altman, urged G20 ministers last week to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) and to build the data centres needed to run it.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in Chapel Hill (North Carolina) on 2 September 2026 – Matt Ramey/ AFP
They spoke on the second day of a G20 meeting in North Carolina, USA, where the Trump administration brought them together with other industry figures to set out their vision to ministers from the world’s twenty leading economies. Multibillionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk had made similar remarks the previous day.
“Ultimately, what every country will have to recognise is that AI is infrastructure, just like water, roads, electricity and the internet,” said Jensen Huang. “Every country must build infrastructure to support its own economy.”
Nvidia, propelled by the generative AI boom to become the world’s most valuable company by market capitalisation, manufactures the graphics processing units (GPUs) essential for training these models. Data centres have become a hot-button issue in the United States, where, according to polls, a majority of Americans now oppose their construction, against a backdrop of rising electricity bills.
As a sign of these concerns, between 100 and 200 protesters opposed to the rapid development of AI unfurled banners on the University of North Carolina campus, where the meeting was held.
“The idea that all jobs are going to be eliminated is simply absurd,” said Jensen Huang. “Tasks will be automated, but the raison d’être of our professions remains.” Countries whose leaders “speak of technology with fear and uncertainty” will suffer as a result, he warned: “The worst-case scenario is failing to capitalise on it and falling behind.”
“The concern is justified”
Sam Altman was less insistent on the subject of data centres: “Some of you will choose to build them, others to rent them from third parties because you don’t want them in your own country. That’s all fine by me.”
The adoption of AI, however, is not optional in the eyes of the OpenAI CEO, who compared a country rejecting this technology to one that would have rejected electricity a century ago: “This is non-negotiable. You must use it. The value to a country is too great to be ignored.”
He did, however, strike a more alarmist note regarding the risks: “The concern is justified” and “it is through concern that we anticipate problems,” he said, drawing a parallel with fire safety regulations introduced following the destruction of major cities.
He also warned against a concentration of wealth in the AI sector, insisting that OpenAI did not want to be the only company in the sector, nor to “siphon off all the value.”
The “Goldilocks” moment
The ministers were more cautious. “No one disputes the opportunity outlined by industry leaders,” Chris McDonald, the UK Minister for Science, Innovation and Investment, told AFP, “but those who run companies do not have the same responsibilities as those who run countries.”
London aims both to lead the acceleration of AI and to win public trust: “There is no need to choose between protecting intellectual property and AI, or between economic growth, and the rise of AI. We must find the right balance.”
“The porridge must be neither too hot nor too cold. It must be just right, and that is a matter of judgement,” he summarised, invoking the image from the famous tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”
The UK has not seen the kind of backlash targeting US projects, but there is no guarantee that this will last, the minister warned, citing past resistance to hydrogen and fracking: “We must ensure we get the public on board. It’s not about being a technology evangelist, but about being practical, pragmatic.”
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