Jensen Huang's elevated status comes with a mea culpa

Catch up quick: Huang offered a mea culpa Thursday at a panel on quantum at the Nvidia GTC conference.

• "This is the first event in history where a company CEO invites all of the guests to explain why he was wrong," Huang said, according to Barron's and CNBC.

He also "expressed surprise that his comments were able to move markets, and joked he didn't know that certain quantum computing companies were publicly traded," CNBC reported.

• "How could a quantum computer company be public?" Huang added.

The big picture: Nvidia's meteoric rise over the last two years has catapulted Huang into a stratospheric status held by very few in business: someone whose every word is scrutinized for what it means for the economy.

• Others who have enjoyed such status include the likes of Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and General Electric icon Jack Welch.

State of play: Huang has become a true business celebrity — the "godfather of AI," as Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives puts it.

• That'll happen when your company briefly skyrockets above the $3 trillion market cap threshold.
• His personality quirks are also catching on with audiences: With his trademark leather jacket, he speaks without a script to listeners who hang on his every word.

Reality check: Huang's latest comments weren't exactly the signs of a true believer in quantum.

• "Of course, quantum computing has the potential and all of our hopes that it will deliver extraordinary impact," he said, according to CNBC. "But the technology is insanely complicated."

💭 Nathan's thought bubble: This is one of those situations where what's been said can't be unsaid.