For visionary leadership in the advancement of devices and systems for computer graphics, accelerated computing, and artificial intelligence
Jensen Huang is founder, president, and CEO of NVIDIA. Born in 1963, in Tainan, Taiwan, Huang’s early years were marked by a fascination with technology. He immigrated to the United States when he was nine years old and earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.
In 1993, Huang founded NVIDIA with friends Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, with a vision to bring advanced 3D graphics to the gaming and multimedia markets. One of NVIDIA's defining moments came in 1999 with the launch of the GeForce 256, the world's first graphics processing unit, or GPU. This revolutionary integrated circuit combined transform, lighting, and rendering functions to unlock an exponential leap in performance and realism in 3D graphics.
Throughout the early 2000s, continual improvements in performance solidified NVIDIA's position as the leading provider of graphics solutions for both gaming enthusiasts and professional users.
In 2006, the company introduced CUDA (compute unified device architecture), a parallel computing platform and programming model that enabled developers to harness the power of NVIDIA GPUs for general-purpose computing tasks. CUDA’s widespread adoption and later integration into popular AI frameworks facilitated the deployment of AI applications across multiple industries and research areas.
In the mid-2000s, NVIDIA recognized the potential of its GPU technology to be used in scientific and computational applications. Universities and national laboratories were soon using NVIDIA chips to power some of the world’s fastest supercomputers.
After its GPUs were used in 2012 to power the breakthrough AlexNet neural network, the company pivoted again to drive the modern era of AI with accelerated computing. Today, most AI models—everything from large language models to systems for autonomous driving to applications in science and health care—are trained and run on NVIDIA technology.
NVIDIA’s strategic evolution over the decades, guided by Jensen Huang’s leadership, has propelled it to become one of the most valuable and influential technology companies in the world.
