Nvidia developed the graphics processors that became central to many modern generative artificial intelligence systems.
Nvidia was founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem. It became famous for graphics processing units, or GPUs, used in computer games and professional visual computing. GPUs can perform many calculations in parallel, making them well suited to training and running large neural networks.
Nvidia's CUDA software platform helped developers use its hardware for general-purpose parallel computing. The combination of GPUs, networking products, and software made the company a major supplier for data centers developing generative AI models.
Demand for AI infrastructure caused Nvidia's share price and market capitalization to rise sharply in the 2020s. Market-cap rankings remain changeable, but Nvidia's role in accelerated computing is a stable explanation for its emergence among the world's most valuable companies.