Speaking in a CNBC appearance reported on September 28, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang characterized AI distillation, training a model on a rival's outputs, as "competition." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called the practice "theft."
The disagreement matters because distillation sits at the center of the U.S.-China AI rivalry and of disputes between American labs. Huang's position is consistent with his broader stance in recent weeks, when he has argued that doom-laden predictions from AI leaders are irresponsible and that safety is largely an engineering problem.
No policy change was announced, but the exchange shows the industry and the administration are not aligned on where competitive learning ends and misappropriation begins.
Source: CNBC