NVIDIA

The company that designs the graphics chips (GPUs) behind modern gaming and most AI training, and the software that runs on them.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA designs the chips that power much of today's computing: the graphics processors, or GPUs, behind modern video games, and the data-centre systems used to train and run most large AI models. It also builds the software that makes those chips useful, including CUDA, which lets developers use a GPU for science and AI as well as graphics. NVIDIA does not manufacture its chips itself and works with specialist manufacturers instead.

The company was founded on 5 April 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, who wanted to bring 3D graphics to gaming and multimedia. The founders are said to have first sketched their ideas in a diner in San Jose. Jensen Huang is still its chief executive, and the headquarters are in Santa Clara, California.

NVIDIA does not publish a formal mission statement. It now describes itself as the AI computing company, and its history page traces how it reached that point: it introduced the GPU in 1999, launched CUDA in 2006, powered the AlexNet neural network in 2012, which helped spark the modern AI boom, brought real-time ray-traced graphics to gamers with RTX in 2018, and launched Omniverse in 2022, a platform for building digital twins and virtual worlds.

Its work today falls into several areas. The largest is data-centre computing and AI, which supplies the hardware and software that AI companies depend on. It also makes GeForce graphics cards for gamers, Drive for self-driving cars and Isaac for robotics. NVIDIA says more than four million developers use its platforms and that over 40,000 companies use its AI technologies. In the UK, it launched Cambridge-1, a supercomputer in Cambridge built to support healthcare research, in 2021.

The pages we read describe NVIDIA's technology and history rather than its culture or early-careers schemes, so students interested in hardware design, software, AI research or robotics should check NVIDIA's careers page for current roles and locations.

What they do

• {'desc': 'GeForce and RTX graphics for PC gamers and creators.', 'title': 'GPUs for gaming'}
• {'desc': 'The systems that train and run large AI models.', 'title': 'AI and data-centre computing'}
• {'desc': 'Software that lets developers use GPUs for AI and science.', 'title': 'CUDA and developer tools'}
• {'desc': 'Drive platforms for driver assistance and self-driving cars.', 'title': 'Automotive'}
• {'desc': 'Isaac for robots and Omniverse for building virtual worlds.', 'title': 'Robotics and simulation'}

Key facts

• Founded: 5 April 1993
• Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, USA
• Founders: Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, Curtis Priem
• Introduced the GPU in 1999 and CUDA in 2006
• UK link: the Cambridge-1 supercomputer, launched 2021 for healthcare research

Website: www.nvidia.com