About NVIDIA
Founding and early years (1993-1999)
NVIDIA was founded in April 1993 by three American engineers: Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowski, and Curtis Prim. They joined forces to create a company that focused on graphics processing units (GPU). The name NVIDIA comes from the Latin word "invidia" (envy) and the abbreviation NV (next vision). In its first year, the company received $20 million in investments from venture funds, including Sequoia Capital, which allowed it to develop and go public in 1999.
NVIDIA's first major success was the release of the RIVA 128 graphics processor in 1997. This strengthened the company's position in the gaming industry. In 1999, NVIDIA released the GeForce 256, the first GPU, including transformation and lighting (T&L) functions, which made it a leader in the graphics solutions market.
Expansion and development (2000-2009)
In the 2000s, NVIDIA continued to strengthen its position in the gaming industry by entering into a contract with Microsoft to supply graphics processors for the Xbox. In the middle of the decade, the company collaborated with Sony to create the RSX Reality Synthesizer for the PlayStation 3. At the same time, the company began to expand its activities outside the gaming industry, developing graphics solutions for NASA and Audi automotive systems.
In 2007, NVIDIA was named "Company of the Year" by Forbes. However, the company soon ran into problems: manufacturing defects in some chips led to massive lawsuits and business losses.
The century of artificial intelligence and data centers (2010-2020)
Since the early 2010s, NVIDIA has made significant strides in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. In 2012, CUDA was introduced, a software platform that enables parallel computing programs to be created on GPU. In 2016, NVIDIA released Pascal, an architecture GPU, optimized for AI and deep learning.
The company has begun supplying its products for data centers and supercomputers, such as the DGX-1, which is specifically designed for AI and analytical tasks. In 2018, NVIDIA introduced the Turing architecture, which includes real-time ray tracing, which significantly improves the quality of graphics in games.
Leadership in the Age of AI (2020-2024)
The 2020s have seen rapid growth for NVIDIA, especially in AI and data centers. In 2020, the company tried to acquire British chip designer Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion, but the deal fell through due to regulatory issues.
With the release of the Ampere architecture in 2020, NVIDIA solidified its position as a leader in AI. In 2022, with a supercomputer equipped with 10 GPU NVIDIA's OpenAI released ChatGPT, drawing significant attention to the company's AI capabilities.
In 2023, NVIDIA became the seventh publicly traded company in the United States with a market capitalization of over $1 trillion, and in 2024 overtook Microsoft to become the world's most valuable public company with a market capitalization of $3.3 trillion.
Products and Innovation
NVIDIA offers a broad portfolio of products, including the GeForce series for gamers and professionals, DGX systems for data centers and AI, Tegra mobile processors for automotive systems and mobile devices, and Mellanox ConnectX for cloud applications and machine learning. In 2024, the company released the Blackwell platform, promising significant increases in computing power for AI and other areas.
NVIDIA is also actively developing its software platforms such as CUDA, AI Enterprise and DRIVE for software developers, including systems for self-driving cars.
Completion of 2024 and the future
As of the end of 2024, NVIDIA remains the global leader in GPUs and artificial intelligence, continuing to expand its technologies and products. In the future, the company plans to further develop in the areas of AI, cloud computing and high-performance computing, aiming to maintain and strengthen its position in the global market.
This story of NVIDIA shows its journey from a small startup to a technology giant with the potential to significantly influence the future of technology and artificial intelligence.