Nvidia becomes world's most valuable company, but many still pronounce its name wrong

As Nvidia claims the title of the world’s most valuable company, trading at an all-time high, the tech giant is in every major conversation about artificial intelligence. Yet, despite its dominance, a basic detail about the company still trips people up: the pronunciation of its name.

Nvidia has officially cleared the air. According to the company’s own brand guidelines, the correct way to say it is “en-VID-ee-uh” — not “NUH-vid-ee-uh,” as many mistakenly pronounce it.

Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem, Nvidia’s name emerged from necessity. At the time, the trio used “NV” as shorthand for “next version” in their files while they concentrated on developing the technology. An early attempt to name the company NVision was shelved when they discovered it was already trademarked by a toilet-paper manufacturer.

Eventually, Huang proposed “Nvidia,” inspired by the Latin word invidia, meaning envy — a fitting origin for a brand that set out to make competitors “green with envy,” as cofounder Priem once said.

That ambition has been realised. With a market cap approaching $3.9 trillion, Nvidia’s chips power everything from generative AI tools to self-driving cars, making it indispensable in the current tech ecosystem.

In a display of personal pride, CEO Jensen Huang had the Nvidia logo tattooed on his arm when the company’s stock price hit $100 over a decade ago. He later recalled the experience, saying it “hurts way more than anybody tells you.”