China's latest obsession: How Jensen Huang went from a dishwasher to AI kingmaker 

In 1993, Jensen Huang launched Nvidia over pancakes and pooled cash at a Denny’s booth. That $600 meal seeded the chipmaker now powering the AI arms race.

When Nvidia’s first chip flopped, Huang fired half the staff and bet everything on a redesign. It worked. That “all-in or die” culture still drives Nvidia today.

The 1999 GeForce 256 didn’t just boost gaming—it birthed the GPU. For the first time, graphics weren’t just pretty; they were programmable.

In 2006, Nvidia cracked open the GPU for more than graphics. CUDA turned gaming chips into AI weapons—before most even knew AI was coming.

From immigrant dishwasher to tech titan, Huang’s arc isn’t just rags-to-riches—it’s blueprint-to-black-swan. Nvidia’s rise mirrors his own: improbable, risky, relentless.

The H100 and Blackwell aren’t just fast—they’re strategic. Nvidia’s chips are so advanced, countries stockpile them like rare earths. Especially China.

Despite US bans, China’s tech giants hoard Nvidia chips. They’re not just buying hardware—they’re buying time in the global AI race.

From Meta’s LLMs to Amazon’s cloud, Nvidia GPUs power the brains of the internet. Huang didn’t just build a company—he built the AI substrate of the world.

Jensen says fear of failure drives him. That paranoia birthed a company that bets before others even wake up—and rarely misses.