- Jensen Huang has called players who hate DLSS 5 “completely wrong”
- The CEO noted: “This is very different from generative AI; it’s content-control generative AI.”
- He further noted that game developers have direct control over the technology and can adjust generative AI to match their artistic intent.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has responded to attacks from gamers who have criticized DLSS 5, the newly introduced technology that aims to improve game graphics to make them look more realistic with its RTX 5000 GPUs.
Or at least that’s the idea: using AI that “infuses pixels with photorealistic lighting and materials” to polish the game’s existing assets, but many players feel the results look worse than the original graphics (for a variety of reasons).
Criticism has been fierce from some quarters, but at GTC 2026, Jensen Huang responded to DLSS 5 detractors when Tom’s Hardware questioned him.
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Huang didn’t mince his words, saying, “Well, first of all, they’re completely wrong. The reason for this is that, as I’ve explained very carefully, DLSS 5 merges the controllability of geometry and textures and everything about gameplay with generative AI.”
The CEO explained how developers can adjust the generative AI used here to match the style of the game and how it will not interfere with the artistic control or artistic direction of a game.
Huang emphasized that it’s up to developers to use DLSS 5 however they want, and that: “That’s all under the control (direct control) of the game developer. This is very different from generative AI; it’s content-control generative AI. That’s why we call it neural rendering.”
Analysis: not the right approach
I’m not sure doubling down on DLSS 5 and hitting back like this is the right strategy here, and it feels too much like grabbing a gas can when dealing with an angry mob of disgruntled gamers.
Furthermore, Huang’s words seem to play not only with fire, but also with semantics for my taste. It is ‘generative content control AI’ that is very different from ‘generative AI’ of course, as we all know. Tsk, they’re worlds apart, even if, erm, it doesn’t sound that different at first glance.
What exactly is Huang talking about here? It’s the difference between having AI generate graphics from scratch and using AI to refine existing game assets, polishing what’s already there (or ‘content control’). On top of that, the CEO also emphasizes that game developers will set the limits of how DLSS 5 is applied and maintain artistic control in that regard.
That all sounds good in theory, but when we look at the results Nvidia shared at GTC, with several screenshots showing DLSS 5 disabled versus DLSS 5 enabled in a variety of games, there are some surprising differences. This is particularly true with the setting and art style: you just need to look at the Resident Evil Requiem screenshot (from Grace, see above) to see that. It’s also understandable that, based on the material shared, there are concerns that the technology is making games look too generic: rendering too sharp and/or leaning towards overload of brightness or oversaturated colors.
Since these are fair observations, I don’t think it’s helpful for Huang to flat out call players “wrong” the way he does. I’m happy to accept that this is still very early work on DLSS 5, and the endgame may look very different to what we’re seeing in these glimpses of the technology in GTC, but this is not what Huang is saying here.
It seems to me that he’s irritated at players for lashing out at DLSS 5 without fully considering what it is (or could eventually be, given that it’s still in early preview), but that he himself is getting equally irritated and responding, which ultimately doesn’t feel very constructive. It also reminds me (and many others) of the classic Simpsons meme, where Principal Skinner worries about not being in touch before blaming the kids for being wrong.
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