Nvidia created the CUDA platform and is closely associated with GeForce graphics cards.
Nvidia was founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem. The company initially focused on graphics processing units, or GPUs, which are chips designed to handle many calculations in parallel and are especially useful for rendering computer graphics.
Nvidia launched CUDA in 2006. CUDA allows developers to use compatible Nvidia GPUs for general-purpose computing, not only graphics. That capability helped make Nvidia hardware important in scientific computing, machine learning, and artificial-intelligence development.
GeForce is Nvidia’s consumer graphics brand, while other product lines serve data centers, professional visualization, automotive systems, and gaming consoles. Nvidia is sometimes confused with a computer manufacturer; it primarily designs chips and platforms, while much of its semiconductor production is handled by external foundries.