The benefit of a faster cycle is that the product will be best in class more often. Compared to a competitor working on an eighteen-month cycle, Nvidia’s six-month cycle would mean that its chip would be the better product about 83 percent of the time.

FOUR: Thirty Days

“When David Kirk arrived at Nvidia’s offices for the first time, in 1996, he could see at once that the company was doomed. Kirk was a graphics expert who consulted throughout the Valley, which was like being a connoisseur of failure. He had watched a great many start-ups falter, including his own, and Nvidia exhibited all of the symptoms of a company hurtling toward insolvency. The employees looked haggard and demoralized, the quirky product didn’t fit with the market, and the supposedly chummy founders were now deadlocked in a “technical discussion” that was obviously more than just a discussion and obviously about more than just technology.

NINE: Cuda

“To distinguish himself, Huang had to pursue a strategy that so defied conventional business logic that ATI wouldn’t follow. He had to build an exploratory product, like a $300 entry-level scientific supercomputer that not only didn’t have competitors but also didn’t even have obvious customers. The zero-billion-dollar market, by definition, was one that only he would participate in—one that only he would even see. Huang was going to build a baseball diamond in a cornfield and wait for the players to arrive.

By 2012, the situation was becoming dire. Nvidia’s stock price had not appreciated in more than a decade, and although revenues and employment at the company had grown considerably, profits remained flat. Huang was bringing supercomputing to the masses, but the masses didn’t want it.

SEVENTEEN: Money

“Like many firms, Nvidia allowed employees to purchase stock at a discount to market prices. What set Nvidia’s program apart was that employees were allowed to purchase stock at a discount to the lowest price at any point in the last two years. These purchases were capped at a certain dollar amount, but as the stock went vertical, the program basically turned into free money, and those who maxed out their contributions each year made the trade of a lifetime. With the windfall extending deep into middle management, some newer employees expressed concerns that the nouveau-riche veterans were entering a state of “semiretirement.” Executives disputed this characterization. Jeff Fisher, who ran the company’s gaming side, had been among the first thirty employees. “Many of us are financial volunteers at this point,” he said, “but we believe in the mission.”

The lure of developing this revolutionary technology offered purpose beyond what money could buy. This was especially true of the old guard, who’d spent years explaining to baffled peers why they were working for a gaming company and who constantly had to correct the pronunciation of the firm’s name. AI had not been a consideration for these veterans, and they were as surprised to be working on it as anybody. “There was no way me, or anybody else, could have dreamed at the time that this stuff that science fiction writers might come up with has become a reality,” said Jay Puri, Nvidia’s head of sales, who started work at the company in 2005. The value of Puri’s shares exceeded $700 million by 2024, but he felt that the interesting work at Nvidia was only beginning. “Maybe I’m biased, but I think it really is the most important technology company of our time,” he said.