Nvidia AI infrastructure dominance and Meta’s big change – News

After a holiday break, it was full steam ahead in 2025 for theCUBE, with events such as the CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas kicking off the calendar.

The developments at CES, as well as Nvidia AI infrastructure dominance, were key areas of interest for theCUBE Research industry analysts John Furrier (pictured, left) and Dave Vellante (right) to discuss on the latest episode of the CUBE Podcast.

CES 2025 showcased the usual lineup of smart homes, smart cars and gadgets, but this year stood out as AI advancements began turning innovations into realities. Consumer electronics will increasingly be powered by chips from Broadcom Inc., Qualcomm Technologies Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., positioning all these players as key winners in the market, according to Furrier.

“Even Intel has a place here. I think CES is going to be a show that’s actually going to be back on the roster for us because of that impact of the cloud back-ends,” Furrier said. “Even retail, next week at NRF in New York City, a retail industry show, but it’s basically going to be an AI show, about how AI back-office technologies are going to enable new user experiences.”

Outlining Nvidia AI infrastructure dominance

At CES, Nvidia Corp. co-founder and Chief Executive Jensen Huang delivered a keynote address in which he showcased his company’s next moves in the AI revolution. He outlined Nvidia AI infrastructure dominance.

“Jensen’s keynote, absolutely awesome. The guy’s throwing haymakers like it’s nobody’s business,” Furrier said. “Calling IT the HR for agents. He’s put the wet blanket on quantum. Stocks were down the next day.”

When it comes to quantum, Huang made his thoughts clear in a briefing with theCUBE. In the briefing, he said there’s nothing one can do with quantum that they can’t do with AI, according to Vellante.

“Except cryptography. Then, at CES, he said it’s 20 years before you’ll see any utility out of quantum,” Vellante said.

It’s clear that Huang knows how to command attention with his keynotes. It brings to mind a frequent conversation on theCUBE Pod, tied to Nvidia’s moat.

“I’ve tried to take the other side, but I’m kind of coming back to your view, which is, maybe it is 10 years that they have a moat,” Furrier said. “It’s certainly very Intel-like in who they’ve essentially replaced. And remember, CES was always: Intel was the keynote.”

Intel Corp. always had a big presence at CES. But that has changed with the dominance of Nvidia AI infrastructure, according to Furrier.

“Now, that’s Nvidia. Nvidia swapped out Intel on the S&P. So in the markets, Nvidia’s the new king,” he said.

Nvidia is like Wintel, according to Vellante. That’s because Nvidia has much in its back pocket.

“The point is that Nvidia has both the hardware that Intel had, the dominance, and it’s got the software, the operating,” Vellante said. “Remember, Microsoft’s dominance started with the operating system. And that’s what CUDA is, and obviously there’s more to it than CUDA.”

Meta changing fact-checking

Last week, Meta Platforms Inc. announced broad changes to its fact-checking and content moderation policies. In doing so, they cited changes in the legal and policy landscape.

“The idea that this Trump administration’s coming in, all the tech people are posturing. You almost see them blowing with the wind on this one,” Furrier said. “You’re seeing all these policies changing, and I think this is a real tell sign that the tech era is leaning into: “Don’t look at me. We’re good. We’re playing ball.’”

The last election saw overreach in what some viewed as censorship, according to Vellante. That put big tech companies in a difficult position, pressured to remove content.

“It’s almost like they’re kind of washing their hands of it. Now, you know they’re all kissing the ring, they’re all donating a million dollars to the inauguration, right? You’re seeing that,” Vellante said. “Everybody’s doing it.”

Packed event calendar

In a little more than a month, theCUBE will kick off its second set at the New York Stock Exchange. It’s going to be a soft launch, according to Furrier.

“We’ll have two operational sets as of February 20, and we’re going to do a lot of programming out of there, not just drop-ins,” he said.

Stay tuned for more coverage from theCUBE, including the Cyber Resiliency Summit from Jan. 14-15. The content schedule and the new set at the NYSE means big things, according to Furrier.

“A lot more curated content coming up — a lot more video storytelling and editorial,” Furrier said.

Watch the full podcast below to find out why these industry pros were mentioned:

Savannah Peterson, founder & chief unicorn at Savvy Millennial and principal analyst at theCUBE Research
Rob Strechay, managing director and principal analyst for theCUBE Research
Gavin Newsom, governor of California
Donald Trump, 45th and 47th U.S. president
Mark Suster, partner at Upfront Ventures
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia
Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO and chairman of Apple
Aaron Levie, CEO of Box
David Floyer, analyst emeritus at theCUBE Research
Dylan Patel, founder of SemiAnalysis
Antonio Neri, president and CEO of HPE
Lisa Su, chair and CEO at AMD
Tom Brady, former NFL quarterback
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO at Meta Platforms
Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla
Jeff Bezos, chairman of Amazon
Andy Jassy, president and CEO of Amazon
John Mack, founder of Life Calling
Jim Cramer, American TV personality and author
Bob Laliberte, principal analyst at theCUBE Research

Here’s the full theCUBE Pod episode:

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