By Emil Bjerg, journalist and editor
Tech and AI continue to play a bigger role globally with some politicians even comparing Big Tech to nation-states in terms of power and influence. Here are 10 short portraits of people in tech with the power to influence innovation, markets, and public opinion.
Jensen Huang – NVIDIA
“AI as a technology is complex, of course, but the capabilities and benefits of AI aren’t hard to understand.”
As the CEO of NVIDIA, one of the world’s fastest-growing companies in recent years, Jensen Huang has become someone a lot of people listen to. As of writing, NVIDIA is the third most valuable company in the world, only surpassed by Microsoft and Apple.
Known for his charismatic presence, often highlighted by his signature leather jacket and black t-shirt, Huang’s leadership has positioned NVIDIA comfortably as the enabler of Big Tech’s AI pursuits. An early bet on AI and machine learning helped Huang take his company from being a midsized graphics processor manufacturer to a major player in parallel computing and AI technologies. Today, Big Tech bosses rub shoulders with Huang in hopes of scoring the H100 chips, used by Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft among others.
Under Huang’s leadership, NVIDIA is not just a chip company, they also produce supercomputers, software, cloud services, and processors. With AI developers preferring to build on NVIDIA tools, they’re more than well-positioned for the intensification of competition in the space they currently dominate.
Sam Altman – OpenAI
“The most successful people I know believe in themselves almost to the point of delusion.”
Sam Altman, the CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, became a tech notability when ChatGPT was launched to the public in late 2022. He has been involved in OpenAI since its very beginning when they were closer to an open-source research institute than to the competitive AI company it is today.
In that process, Altman was at the center of one of the most dramatic firings in Silicon Valley since Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple in the 80’s. While some of the details remain unknown to the public, the general perception is that Altman’s focus on quickly developing AI towards so-called artificial general intelligence (AI) worried colleagues and board members.
Altman’s power and influence in Silicon Valley was highlighted shortly thereafter. With the help of Satya Nadella from Microsoft and the majority of employees at OpenAI, Altman was quickly reinstated as CEO – this time with him on the board.
Reshma Saujani – Girls Who Code
“The culture of tech companies cannot change if women aren’t in the room.”
While there, sadly, are more male than female names on this list, Reshma Saujani is actively trying to change that distribution. Saujani founded Girls Who Code exactly to address the gender gap in the technology sectors. And it seems highly needed: in 1995, 37 percent of all computer scientists were women; today, that number is down to just 24 percent.
Through educational clubs and programs, Saujani and her team empower young women to pursue education in computer science. So far, they have helped 580.000 girls and women get into coding.
Demis Hassabis – DeepMind Technologies
“Right now, I would not be surprised if we approached something like AGI or AGI-like in the next decade.”
A leading figure in artificial intelligence, Demis Hassabis co-founded DeepMind Technologies, acquired by Google in 2014. Google’s acquisition of Deepmind famously led Elon Musk, a vocal critic of Google’s AI ethics, to co-found OpenAI.
Leading Google DeepMind, Hassabis has been central to developing Google’s ChatGPT competitor, Gemini. At the release of Gemini, it was hinted that the LLM might be able to outperform Chat-GPT. As of now, that competition remains very much open.
With the crisis that the release of ChatGPT created at Google, Hassabis’s influence grew further. Google’s AI efforts and Deepmind’s were merged into one unit headed by Hassabis.
Gwynne Shotwell – SpaceX
“An important skill for all SpaceXers is the ability to accept critical feedback. This is key to anyone’s growth and becoming better at what they do.”
Gwynne Shotwell, as President and COO of SpaceX, has been central to operationalizing Elon Musk’s vision, turning SpaceX into the most important private space company in the world. With visions of her own, Shotwell has expressed her belief that people will be on Mars within the 2020s.
Under her leadership, SpaceX has achieved substantial leaps, including the first re-flight of an orbital class rocket and the launch of the Starlink satellite constellation, which has positioned them as the biggest satellite company in the world. Shotwell managed to secure a contract with NASA by convincing them that even though SpaceX hadn’t yet perfected its rockets, the team behind the rockets was worth betting on.
Beyond technical achievements, Shotwell is a central advocate for STEM education and diversity in engineering and aerospace, frequently speaking at conferences and educational events to inspire the next generation where she emphasizes the importance of diverse perspectives in innovation
Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei – Anthropic
“Since we were kids, we’ve always felt very aligned” – Daniela Amodei
Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei, siblings and co-founders of Anthropic, have become central figures in the AI landscape following their departure from OpenAI. Anthropic, which they launched with a focus on building safer AI systems, stands at the forefront of AI safety research. The siblings have positioned Anthropic as a notable entity in AI ethics and technological development. According to themselves their latest iteration of ‘Claude’ surpasses both Gemini and GPT-4.
Their approach emphasizes transparency and reliability has set them apart from more commercially driven AI endeavors and attracted significant investment from tech giants like Amazon and Google. And the duo’s influence reaches beyond the technological, as they are frequently involved in discussions around the regulation of AI.
Vitalik Buterin – Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has been a key figure in the blockchain and cryptocurrency world. Impressively, Buterin proposed Ethereum in a white paper at just 19 years old and has since continued to influence the blockchain space significantly.
Buterin’s work with Ethereum, the world’s second-biggest crypto coin, is part of creating a whole new web architecture. With the introduction of smart contracts, Ethereum is updating blockchain applications, enabling financial transactions and complex agreements. This way, Buterin is a central part of Web3 development and the future of finance.
He also holds substantial power in the crypto investment spheres. His endorsement of certain coins can quickly influence a substantial rise in value.
Satya Nadella – Microsoft
Since becoming CEO of Microsoft in 2014, Satya Nadella has shifted Microsoft’s focus toward cloud computing and AI. His strategy, known as “intelligent cloud and intelligent edge,” blends AI into everything from everyday apps to complex business systems.
Nadella’s leadership has revitalized Microsoft, a sleepy giant that has regained both market shares and relevance recently. In the later years, the company tripled its stock value and is once again one of the world’s most valuable companies.
One of Nadella’s most influential decisions has been Microsoft’s substantial investment in OpenAI, supporting them with the computing power to follow the massive demand. The investment and integration of OpenAI’s systems into Microsoft’s, has been part of establishing the Big Tech company as a power player in AI.
Tim Cook – Apple
Tim Cook took over as CEO of Apple in 2011, following the lead of Steve Jobs. Tim Cook is a very different character than Steve Jobs; more of a steady administrator than an innovator. Critics have noted that Apple’s pace of innovation has been slower than under Steve Jobs.
Nonetheless, Cook has cemented Apple as a massive commercial success. From his takeover in 2011 to today, Apple has become more than 1000% more valuable. Under Cook’s reign, Apple has launched products like the Apple Watch, AirPods, and latest the Apple Vision Pro, branching into ‘spatial computing’.
And then there’s the App Store. With so many companies needing to bypass the App Store’s Review Guidelines – and pay 30% of everything bought in the App Store to Apple – Cook has a significant power in the wider tech ecosystem. Moreover, Cook has been a vocal advocate for privacy, positioning Apple as a Big Tech leader in protecting user data.
Elon Musk – Tesla, SpaceX
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”
Elon Musk is hard to avoid on a list like this. For one, he has been hugely influential in tech innovation over the past 20 years. And then there’s Twitter/X. For better or worse, few people have as much of a voice in the public debate as he does, his tweets affecting market valuations like no one else.
But more than an avid tweeter, Musk has been a trailblazer jumpstarting several industries from electric cars to space travel. To many, Musk is proof that futuristic ventures can be commercially viable.
With his acquisition of Twitter (now X), Musk has gotten a lot closer to politics. In his version of a public square, he decides what can be said and who can say it. Including whether Donald Trump is welcome or not.
And then there’s the war in Ukraine. With Starlink, a satellite internet company operated by Musk being deeply embedded in the Ukraine-Russia war, Musk is possibly more powerful in the outcome of a war than any tech leader before him has ever been.
