September 28, 2026
WHEN: Today, Monday, September 28, 2026
WHERE: CNBC’s “Squawk Box”
Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with Nvidia Founder & CEO Jensen Huang who joined CNBC’s “Squawk Box” (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET) today, Monday, September 28 to discuss Nvidia launching an Open Agent Safety Platform and news of Nvidia’s share buyback plan. Following are links to video on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/09/28/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-all-systems-around-ai-systems-must-be-designed-with-restrictive-rights.html and https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/09/28/nvidia-ceo-you-want-ai-to-be-super-clever-so-it-can-perform-tasks-but-rights-issues-are-key.html.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
HUANG ON AGENTIC SYSTEM
IN ORDER FOR YOU TO DELIVER THAT AGENTIC SYSTEM IN A SAFE WAY, YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SANDBOX AROUND IT, THE FORCE FIELD, THE PLAYPEN, YOU KNOW, IF YOU WILL, ALL OF THOSE SYSTEMS ARE DESIGNED IN A WAY THAT KEEPS THE AGENT WITH MINIMAL RIGHTS, WHATEVER RIGHTS IT HAS, IT NEEDS IN ORDER TO DO ITS JOB. NO MORE RIGHTS THAN THAT. AND THAT IT CAN'T, IT CAN'T DO ANYTHING THAT IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO.
HUANG ON ENGINEERING PROBLEM
WE HOPE IT'S AN ENGINEERING PROBLEM. I BELIEVE IT'S AN ENGINEERING PROBLEM. I KNOW IT'S AN ENGINEERING PROBLEM. AND WE ALL NEED TO HOPE THAT IT'S AN ENGINEERING PROBLEM. IF IT'S NOT AN ENGINEERING PROBLEM, IT'S NOT SOLVABLE. AND SO THE FACT THAT ALL OF THESE COMPANIES STILL ARE ADVANCING THE STATE OF THE ART IS BECAUSE THEY ALSO BELIEVE IT'S SOLVABLE. THESE ARE SOME OF THE BRIGHTEST ENGINEERS IN THE WORLD. I WORK WITH, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THEM. AND, AND THESE ARE, THIS IS A, THIS IS A TECHNICALLY SOLVABLE PROBLEM.
HUANG ON BROWSER FOR AGENTS
IN THE BEGINNING, WE HAD ALL KINDS OF VIRUSES, BUT WE REALIZED THAT THE WEB BROWSER ITSELF HAS TO BE A CONTAINMENT SYSTEM. THE WEB BROWSER HAS TO PROVIDE THAT APPLICATION WITH MINIMAL RIGHTS, WHATEVER, ONLY THE RIGHTS IT NEEDS IN ORDER TO DO ITS JOB. AND IT HAS ACCESS TO, BASICALLY ACCESS TO NOTHING UNLESS THE BROWSER GIVES IT ACCESS. ESSENTIALLY, WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE, WE'RE CREATING BASICALLY THE MODERN BROWSER. IT'S A BROWSER FOR, BROWSER FOR AGENTS.
HUANG ON AI BEING CLEVER
YOU WANT IT TO BE SUPER CLEVER SO IT CAN PERFORM TASKS AND DO THINGS. BUT THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT THAT IS, IS WHEN YOU DEPLOY AN AGENT, NO MATTER HOW SMART, THE FIRST THING YOU DO IS YOU TAKE AWAY ALL OF ITS RIGHTS. JOB NUMBER ONE IS TAKE AWAY ALL OF ITS RIGHTS. AND THEN YOU PROVISION, YOU GIVE IT ACCESS TO FILES, DATA, TOOLS, ACCESS TO THE NETWORK, OR EVEN INTERNET ACCESS, ONLY IF IT NEEDS IT.
HUANG ON AN OPEN STANDARD
THIS IS AN OPEN STANDARD. IT'S AN OPEN, OPEN PLATFORM. AND HOWEVER THEY WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IS GOING TO BE SUPER WELCOME. THEY COULD LOOK AT THE CODE, THEY COULD USE WHATEVER PART OF IT THEY WOULD LIKE. THEY COULD BUILD THEIR OWN INSPIRED BY THIS OR THEY COULD USE IT.
HUANG ON INTERCEPTING EVERYTHING
THE MODELS HERE, THE CHIP IS IN THE MIDDLE AND HERE'S THE AGENT. AND SO WHATEVER THE AGENT IS TRYING TO DO AND WHATEVER IT'S CAUSING THE LARGE LANGUAGE MODEL TO THINK ABOUT, BLUEFIELD OR CENTURY SITS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE. SO WE INTERCEPT EVERYTHING, WHICH IS ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE REALLY, REALLY INCREDIBLE PLACES THAT WE SIT IN THE WORLD BECAUSE WE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE COMPUTERS FOR AGENTS AND WE HAVE COMPUTERS FOR OUR LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS. AND NVIDIA NOW HAS A NEW CHIP THAT SITS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE.
HUANG ON EVERY COMPANY WILL BECOME AN AI COMPANY
HUGGING FACE, I MEAN, THIS IS THIS IS THE, YOU KNOW, THE WORLD'S LEADING PLATFORM FOR OPEN MODELS. I BELIEVE VERY DEEPLY IN IN ADVANCING OPEN INTELLIGENCE. I THINK WE OUGHT TO DEMOCRATIZE INTELLIGENCE. I THINK EVERY COMPANY WILL BECOME AN AI COMPANY. AND THIS PLATFORM REALLY, REALLY KEEPS THAT COMMUNITY THRIVING.
HUANG ON NOT SUFFOCATING THE INDUSTRY
IF THE POLICIES ARE SUCH THAT, SUCH THAT OPEN MODELS ARE NOT HARMED, YOUNG COMPANIES ARE NOT HARMED, THAT EVERY COMPANY COULD BECOME AN AI COMPANY, THAT EVERY BANK COULD BECOME AN AI, AI COMPANY, THAT EVERY RETAILER COULD BECOME AN AI COMPANY. SO LONG AS AS WE COULD SEE POLICIES THAT THAT DON'T SUFFOCATE THE INDUSTRY TOO QUICKLY BECAUSE AS YOU KNOW, THE AI INDUSTRY HASN'T FORMED YET. EVERY SINGLE COMPANY HERE IN, IN NEW YORK, THEY'RE ALL GOING TO BE AI COMPANIES. AND SO EVERY CAR COMPANY IS GOING TO BE AI COMPANIES. AND SO WE NEED TO GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO BE ABLE TO BECOME ONE OF THOSE COMPANIES AND DON'T SUFFOCATE THE INDUSTRY QUITE YET.
HUANG ON ACCELERATING AI
I WOULD ADVOCATE THAT TODAY'S AI, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT ADVANCEMENT, DON'T, YOU DON'T HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT SEPARATELY FROM CAPABILITY VERSUS SAFETY. TO ME, IT'S THE SAME THING. AND SO WE WANT TO ACCELERATE THE ADVANCEMENT OF AI. AND TODAY WE'RE PUTTING FORTH THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY, OPENSHELL AND NVIDIA SENTRY, THAT THESE TWO TECHNOLOGIES MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO CONTAIN AND TO MONITOR. BUT IT TAKES A LOT OF TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE.
HUANG ON INNOVATION AND REGULATION
INNOVATION AND REGULATION ARE NOT CONFLICTS. THE QUESTION IS, WHICH ONE DO YOU LEAN TOWARDS AT WHICH PHASE OF THE INDUSTRY. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE INDUSTRY, WHEN THE TECHNOLOGY IS BEING INVENTED AND NOBODY REALLY KNOWS HOW IT'S GOING TO TURN OUT, IT WOULD BE A SHAME TO REGULATE BEFORE UNDERSTANDING. AND SO YOU REGULATE TOO, YOU REGULATE PREMATURELY, AS A RESULT, THE TECHNOLOGY DOESN'T GET A CHANCE TO INNOVATE.
HUANG ON DISTILLATION
HUANG: PEOPLE DISTILL MY PRODUCTS EVERY SINGLE DAY. THEY TAKE IT AND THEY THEY STRIP IT DOWN TO ITS RAW PARTS. THEY TEST EVERYTHING. THAT'S CALLED COMPETITION.
SORKIN: DO YOU THINK THAT'S FAIR GAME? DO YOU THINK DISTILLATION IS NOT ROBBERY?
HUANG: THAT'S CALLED COMPETITION.
SORKIN: OKAY.
HUANG: YEAH. YOU'RE ALLOWED YOU'RE ALLOWED TO TEST SOMEBODY ELSE'S PRODUCTS ALL YOU WANT. PEOPLE, PEOPLE STRIP OUR PRODUCTS DOWN TO, YOU KNOW, DOWN TO NOTHING, DOWN TO BONES. AND AND I PREFER THEY DIDN’T. I REALLY PREFER THEY DIDN’T.
HUANG ON THE NEWS OF THE SHARE BUYBACK PLAN
QUICK: JENSEN. I KNOW YOU HAVE TO RUN YOUR STOCK WAS UP ABOUT 1.5%, 1.7%. NOW IT JUMPED ON THE NEWS OF THE SHARE BUYBACK, NOT THE OPEN SHELL AND SENTRY. BUT I'M GUESSING YOU THINK OPENSHELL AND SENTRY IS THE MUCH BIGGER NEWS TODAY.
HUANG: YEAH. REALLY IMPORTANT NEWS. AND THE REASON FOR IT'S OF COURSE WE CAN'T HAVE A SUCCESSFUL AI INDUSTRY IF THE WORLD DOESN'T THINK IT'S BUILT OR CONFIDENT THAT IT'S BUILT AND DEPLOYED SAFELY. AND SO, SO TODAY, THE OPEN AGENT SAFETY SYSTEM IS REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THAT. WE'VE GOT THE SUPPORT OF A GIANT INDUSTRY TO, TO WORK WITH US. I WANT THE WORLD TO KNOW THAT THIS INDUSTRY HAS THE TECHNOLOGY, IT HAS THE MATURITY, HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY TO DO IT RIGHT, AND WE WILL DO IT RIGHT. AND SO SO THAT'S NUMBER ONE. I THINK WE'RE GOING THROUGH THE LARGEST INFRASTRUCTURE BUILD OUT IN HUMAN HISTORY, AND WE'RE WHERE WE HAVE THE BENEFIT OF BEING A VERY CENTRAL PART OF THAT. WE'RE GENERATING A LOT OF CASH. WE'RE GOING TO GENERATE A LOT OF CASH IN THE COMING YEARS. AND, YOU KNOW, EVERY SINGLE YEAR AS WE GENERATE MORE CASH, WE, I'D LIKE TO BE ABLE TO RETURN IT BACK TO THE SHAREHOLDERS.
For more information contact:
Stephanie Hirlemann
CNBC
