You won’t believe what Akshay Kumar and Nvidia’s founder and CEO have in common

At first glance, Bollywood’s action star Akshay Kumar and Nvidia’s billionaire CEO Jensen Huang might seem like they come from entirely different worlds — one commands the big screen, the other leads one of the most powerful tech companies on the planet. But during the 2024 Nvidia AI Summit in Mumbai, the two discovered they share a surprising common ground: martial arts.

Martial Arts Meets Machine Learning

In October 2024, Huang was in India for the Nvidia AI Summit when he crossed paths with Kumar, who later posted on X about meeting the “world’s biggest authority on Artificial Intelligence.” The encounter quickly evolved into a conversation about discipline, humility, and confidence — qualities both credit to their martial arts training.

Huang revealed that both his children are second-degree black belts, while Kumar reiterated his long-standing belief that martial arts is one of the most valuable disciplines a child can learn. “It gives them something to be good at… when you’re good at anything, it gives you confidence to do everything else,” Huang said.

From Silver Screen to Tech Stage

The light-hearted exchange even saw both men joking about their ages and career longevity. With Kumar’s decades-long acting career and Huang’s three-decade leadership at Nvidia, both share the discipline and consistency needed to excel at the top of their fields.

Kumar also noted that Hindi cinema has yet to fully explore AI as a theme, apart from scattered attempts in films like “Robot.”

The AI Question

The conversation wasn’t just about kicks and katas. Kumar posed a thought-provoking question: What is the one thing AI can’t copy from humans?

Huang’s response was clear — AI, no matter how advanced, cannot replicate the entirety of human capability. “In no job can AI do all of it,” he said. While AI might perform 20% to 50% of certain tasks with incredible efficiency, it remains a tool that should be used to assist, not replace, human work.

He emphasized that the real risk isn’t AI itself taking jobs, but rather people who master AI tools outperforming those who don’t. Huang likened building safe AI systems to constructing reliable airplanes, stressing that safety, diversity, and redundancy must be built into the technology.

What’s Next for the Khiladi

While the summit showed Kumar’s curiosity beyond the film industry, his cinematic calendar remains packed. Upcoming releases include Jolly LLB 3 (September 19, 2025), Welcome to the Jungle, Housefull 5, Bhooth Bangla (2026), and the long-awaited Hera Pheri 3.