NVIDIA at the Center of the Generative AI Ecosystem – For Now

Generative AI has attracted worldwide attention as a foundational technology with almost unlimited applications (see my previous column, "Generative AI as a New Innovation Platform," Communications, October 2023). Goldman Sachs estimates applications of this technology could raise global GNP by $7 trillion (7%) during the next decade.9 At the center of the new ecosystem is NVIDIA, whose high-end graphical processing units (GPUs) account for approximately 80% of the market for GPUs that power generative AI software.5,20 Established in 1993, NVIDIA's founders, led by Jen-Hsun (Jensen) Huang, initially saw a need for powerful specialized chips that could take over graphics processing from PC or workstation central processing units (CPUs), a market dominated by Intel. The company went public in 1999 and exceeded $1 billion in revenue in 2002.