What just happened? Jensen Huang, the co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, has been singing the praises of ChatGPT, calling it an "iPhone moment" for artificial intelligence and the greatest thing to ever happen to the computing industry.

Generative AIs, especially GhatGPT, have seen their popularity explode in recent months, with companies rushing to implement them into their products. It's also led to the launch of hundreds of startups based around the technology. Nvidia boss Huang recently gave his glowing verdict when he appeared as one of the high-profile guests during Berkeley Haas University's Dean's Speaker series.

When asked about ChatGPT by a student during the Q&A, Huang highlighted how many people have started using the chatbot in such a short time. The 100 million users it added in the first few months makes it the fastest-growing consumer app in history, though ChatGPT says it considers itself a tool rather than an app.

"When was the last time we saw a piece of technology that is so versatile that it can solve problems and surprise people in so many ways so often? It can write a poem of course [...] It could fill out a spreadsheet; it can write a SQL query and do a SQL query; it can write python code; it can write Verilog, and so you know, if it can't do it today, of course, it will be able to do it someday," Jensen said. "This is the iPhone moment, if you will, of artificial intelligence."

Huang went on to say how ChatGPT's API can be connected to spreadsheets, PowerPoint, a drawing or photo editing program, and much more to improve the programs.

Taking about ChatGPT's rate of diffusion, Huang said, "This is no different than when browsers were created and somebody overnight created JavaScript and you got a website that was quite surprising. Or when the iPhone came out and somebody wrote something and took about a couple of weekends and they have a piece of software that they can download from the app store."

Huang finished with a flurry on how ChatGPT's program-writing abilities could change the landscape. "Literally everyone can program a computer," he said. "We have democratized computing in a very, very large way."

It's no surprise Huang is so positive about ChatGPT. Nvidia is a major player in the AI world, creating both the hardware and software behind much of the industry. The company's share price has jumped 33% this month on the back of the ChatGPT interest, and the chatbot's growth is predicted to result in sales of $3 billion to $11 billion for Nvidia across the next 12 months.

With Google, Microsoft, and even China's Baidu all integrating ChatGPT or similar services into their products, it looks like we have entered a new age of artificial intelligence. But as with all new technologies, there are fears about generative AI's potential harms, including feeding users incorrect information, allowing students to cheat at exams, and workers using it without telling their bosses.