Jensen Huang Unveils Five-Layer Cake Framework for AI’s Evolution

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang has described the AI value chain as a “five-layer cake” comprising, in order, energy, chips, infrastructure, models and applications. The framework underscores that AI depends not only on algorithms but also on electricity, computing resources and coordinated data-center operations, with implications for technology investment and national energy policy.

Huang recently elaborated that energy is the critical foundation of the five-layer structure, followed by chips such as GPUs, cloud and data-center infrastructure, AI models, and applications. He said AI has moved beyond the limits of traditional software, which processes structured instructions, and can understand unstructured information such as text and images while reasoning in real time. The reports did not disclose the exact date of his remarks or any monetary figures.