Nvidia's role in AI development began in 2011, when researchers discovered that Nvidia GPUs could handle the processing needs of deep learning. Another major milestone happened a year later, when computer scientists used Nvidia GPUs to power AlexNet, a neural network.
In 2016, Huang donated an Nvidia supercomputer with eight GPUs to OpenAI. The start-up would use those GPUs to train ChatGPT.
The growth of AI and Nvidia's crucial role as an AI chipmaker would cause its value to skyrocket. It first became the world's largest company in 2024, and a year later, it became the first to reach a market cap of $4 trillion.
Philosophy & legacy
Huang believes in going after new markets and trying to achieve things that no one has ever done before. He coined the term "zero billion dollar markets" to describe what he looks for in business opportunities -- a completely new market, where there isn't already a mass of competitors doing the same thing.
I'd rather be a market maker, market creator than a market taker.
Nvidia reflects that philosophy. While it hasn't been entirely without competition, it stood out in its early days by focusing on GPUs and eventually became a leader in that industry.
Awards, honors, and recognition
Huang has received a number of awards and honors throughout his more than three-decade career. Here are some of the highlights:
- He received honorary doctorates from multiple universities, including Oregon State University in 2009 and National Taiwan University in 2020.
- He was named the world's best-performing CEO by Harvard Business Review in 2019.
- He received the Semiconductor Industry Association's top honor, the Robert N. Noyce award, in 2021.
- He was in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in 2021 and 2024.
- He was named the best CEO by The Economist in 2023.
- He was ranked first on Fortune magazine's list of the 100 most powerful people in business in 2025 and second in 2024.
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