NVIDIA's CEO Isn't Bothered by Kids Forgetting Multiplication Tables — He Doesn't Even Remember His Own Address

Jensen Huang, head of the company that makes GeForce graphics cards and chips for nearly the entire AI industry, discussed this in an interview with Ezra Klein, host of The Ezra Klein Show. The episode aired on September 23, recorded at NVIDIA's headquarters in Santa Clara. Early in the conversation, Klein cited a Chinese study involving 26,000 students in grades 7–12. With AI, their homework grades rose by 18%, while their results on monthly exams fell by 20% over six months.

Huang agreed that basic skills are being lost. According to him, it's now hard to get a child to do long division, multiplication tables are starting to be forgotten, and square roots are barely worth mentioning. "Basic math is being forgotten. Does that matter?" he asked. Klein turned the question back to him, and Huang answered:

Huang used himself as an example: he admitted he doesn't know his own address or phone number. A few years ago he had to pump his own gas, and when a zip code was required, NVIDIA's CEO drew a blank — he didn't remember that either. "I forget things like that. I can live with that," he said.

Later, when Klein pushed back, Huang clarified his point: AI will take over routine tasks, while people shift to higher-level work.

Abroad, Huang's response was met with a wave of criticism. Many journalists saw in it the industry's indifference to how AI is already affecting children. Huang's defenders counter that the calculator was once called a threat to mental arithmetic too.

Do you still remember the multiplication table and your phone number without your smartphone's help? Is Huang right that this no longer matters? Share your thoughts in the comments.