The crowds at Dreamforce got to witness a bit of a live therapy session Tuesday during a conversation between Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
The duo initially focused their jam-packed keynote on perspectives of how artificial intelligence, including OpenAI’s popular chatbot, ChatGPT, is changing the world. Huang explained that he likes to use ChatGPT as a tutor to help him learn about new topics.
From there, Benioff started getting personal.
“I’m using it mostly as my therapist,” the Salesforce chief said. “How do you feel about that?”
“It’s apparently working — you look pretty chill,” Huang shot back, drawing laughter from the audience.
The trend of people ditching their real-life therapists in favor of chatbots has gained steam, with mixed results. Chatting with AI is cheaper than a real session, Huang noted, though certainly that wouldn’t be a billionaire’s priority.
The duo batted the therapist bit back and forth several more times and actually did start to get more intimate as Benioff asked Huang about his motivation and drive. The CEO has led the chipmaker for 32 years and directed it through both its startup grind and recent AI supremacy.
“I can’t really tell whether I’m running for food or running away from being food, but I’m running all the time, and I don’t know where that comes from,” the Nvidia CEO mused. “I think I need to sign up for your same therapy and self-reflect.”
After Benioff played the counselor and joked that Huang could “lie down if you feel more comfortable,” the chipmaker invited himself to Benioff’s island compound.
“Marc, I’m going to come to Hawaii, we’re going to sit down, and we’re going to talk about it,” Huang said. “If I don’t put up some of my force field right now, you watch, I’ll be in tears in about five minutes, all of my emotions bubbling up to the surface.”
The billionaires’ lovefest continued until the end of the session, with Benioff describing Huang as having a beginner’s mind, and thanking him for his dedication to the field of AI.
“We’re so grateful to you, Jensen, for your leadership, your pioneering spirit,” Benioff said, “And your desire and ability to continue to fire yourself up through every generation of computing.”