Nvidia was founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem.
The three engineers established Nvidia in Santa Clara, California, with the goal of developing graphics hardware for computer games and other visually intensive applications. Jensen Huang became the company's chief executive officer, a position he has held since Nvidia's founding. Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem were experienced electrical engineers who helped shape the company's original products.
Nvidia's breakthrough came with its graphics processing units, or GPUs. These chips first became widely known for accelerating 3D graphics, especially in games. The same architecture later became important for scientific computing, machine learning, and generative artificial intelligence, driving Nvidia's extraordinary rise in market value.
Curtis Priem is sometimes omitted from short accounts of Nvidia's origin because Huang is the best-known founder and long-serving CEO. Priem was nevertheless one of the three named co-founders. Lisa Su and Pat Gelsinger are prominent semiconductor executives, but neither founded Nvidia.