NVIDIA was founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem.
The founders created NVIDIA to develop graphics-processing technology. Graphics processing units, or GPUs, became especially important for video games because they can perform many calculations in parallel. NVIDIA’s hardware and software later found major uses in professional visualization, scientific computing, artificial intelligence, and data centers.
Jensen Huang has served as NVIDIA’s chief executive since the company’s founding. Chris Malachowsky was an engineer and co-founder, while Curtis Priem was another important early technical leader. Their early work helped establish NVIDIA as a specialist in graphics chips before the company expanded into broader accelerated computing.
NVIDIA’s market capitalization rose dramatically as investors focused on GPUs used to train and run artificial-intelligence systems. Market capitalization reflects the market price of a company’s shares, so NVIDIA’s rank can change quickly. Lisa Su is associated with AMD, while Pat Gelsinger is associated with Intel, making both common but incorrect alternatives.