Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO of NVIDIA

Stanford Graduate School of Business
5 Mar 202456:27

Summary

TLDRIn this inspiring interview, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, shares his remarkable journey of transforming a startup into a pioneering tech giant. He reveals the core principles that have guided his leadership, emphasizing the importance of empowering employees, fostering a culture of innovation, and staying true to one's beliefs. Huang reflects on overcoming challenging times, such as the 80% market cap loss during the financial crisis, and highlights the role of 'early indicators of future success' in driving the company forward. He discusses the disruptive potential of generative AI and encourages a first-principles approach to harnessing its power responsibly. Throughout the interview, Huang's wisdom and passion for pushing the boundaries of computing shine through, inspiring viewers to redefine their own tomorrows.

Takeaways

  • 😀 Have a strong core belief and vision, but be willing to adapt and reinvent along the way based on new information and opportunities.
  • 🤖 Aggressively pursue new technologies and applications that can solve problems current general computing cannot address, even if the market doesn't exist yet.
  • 📚 Continuously learn and study from first principles - treat challenges as opportunities to gain new knowledge and insights.
  • 🏆 Seek out 'early indicators of future success' rather than getting fixated on short-term financial metrics.
  • 🧠 Empower employees by being transparent, informing them of the broader context, and showing how you reason through problems.
  • 🌳 Design the organizational structure from first principles based on what you are trying to build, not legacy hierarchical models.
  • 🔭 Look backwards from the future you envision for your company and work backwards to get there.
  • 🚀 Embrace generative AI as a paradigm shift that will fundamentally change computing and disrupts industries.
  • ⚖️ Support tailored regulation for AI products/services by existing bodies, not blanket regulation across domains.
  • 👥 Surround yourself with people you love and take them on the journey with your core beliefs as the guiding force.

Q & A

  • What motivated Jensen Huang to leave LSI Logic and become a founder?

    -Jensen was motivated by the opportunity to build a company focused on solving problems that normal computers powered by general-purpose computing couldn't, as suggested by his colleagues Chris and Curtis.

  • How did Nvidia choose its first killer app and what was it?

    -Nvidia's first killer app was decided to be 3D graphics, targeting the application of video games. This decision was based on the intersection of the challenge of making 3D graphics affordable and the non-existent video game market for PCs at the time.

  • What was Nvidia's approach to overcoming the challenge of their technology becoming incompatible with Microsoft's direct 3D?

    -Nvidia reset the company by adopting the OpenGL standard for computer graphics after their initial technology became incompatible with Microsoft's direct 3D, allowing them to innovate and create something the world had never seen before.

  • How did Jensen Huang ensure Nvidia stayed on track during challenging times, such as when its market cap dropped 80%?

    -Jensen focused on core beliefs and the fundamentals of the business, maintaining the same approach to work and leadership, and ensuring the company remained focused on its mission despite external market pressures.

  • What role does generative AI play in Nvidia's vision for the future?

    -Generative AI is seen as a revolutionary technology that will change the nature of computing, enabling software to understand and generate new content, which will have broad implications for various applications and industries.

  • What were the key principles behind the creation of Nvidia's organizational structure?

    -Nvidia's organizational structure is designed to be flat, prioritizing empowerment and information accessibility across all levels to ensure every employee can contribute effectively to the company's mission.

  • How does Jensen Huang view the potential challenges and regulations surrounding AI?

    -While acknowledging the need for technological advancements to address safety and ethical considerations, Jensen emphasizes the importance of context-specific regulations across different industries, rather than overarching regulations that might stifle innovation.

  • What was Nvidia's strategy for entering and growing the gaming market for PCs?

    -Nvidia focused on creating technology and markets simultaneously, recognizing the need to both innovate in 3D graphics technology and actively develop the gaming market for PCs to ensure the company's success.

  • How did Nvidia adapt when realizing their initial vision wasn't working as expected?

    -Nvidia was flexible in its approach, shifting focus from their initial vision to explore and capitalize on the emerging market of 3D graphics for gaming, demonstrating the company's ability to pivot based on market demands and technological possibilities.

  • What does Jensen Huang consider as the most important aspect of his leadership role at Nvidia?

    -Jensen Huang believes his most important role is to create the conditions that allow his employees to do their life's work, focusing on empowerment, information sharing, and fostering an environment where everyone can contribute to Nvidia's mission.

Outlines

00:00

👨‍💼 Founding Nvidia and Securing Initial Funding

Jensen describes how he and his co-founders Curtis Priem and Chris Malachowsky decided to start Nvidia during the microprocessor revolution in the early 1990s. Their goal was to build a company that could solve problems that normal computers couldn't handle. Jensen shares the story of how he secured funding from Don Valentine, a renowned Silicon Valley investor, with the help of his former boss at LSI Logic, Wilfred Corrigan.

05:00

🎮 Creating the 3D Gaming Market for PCs

Jensen explains how Nvidia's initial focus was on creating the technology and market for 3D graphics in video games on PCs. This involved developing affordable hardware and software solutions to enable 3D graphics, which were previously only available on expensive workstations. Nvidia had to create both the technology and the market, working with companies like Electronic Arts to drive adoption.

10:02

💡 Pivoting and Implementing the OpenGL Pipeline

Jensen discusses how Nvidia had to pivot and reset the company when their initial 3D graphics technology became incompatible with Microsoft's Direct3D standard. They implemented the OpenGL pipeline by studying a textbook on how Silicon Graphics did computer graphics. This pivotal moment gave the company confidence that they could succeed by learning and reinventing from first principles.

15:03

📈 Expanding into New Markets and Applications

Jensen talks about Nvidia's efforts to expand into new markets and applications beyond 3D graphics, such as computational drug design, weather simulation, and artificial intelligence. He highlights the importance of identifying 'early indicators of future success' to guide the company's investments in emerging technologies, even when the markets don't yet exist.

20:04

🤖 The Impact of Deep Learning and AI

Jensen discusses how Nvidia recognized the potential of deep learning early on and worked with researchers to develop tools and languages for expressing neural network algorithms on their processors. He emphasizes the importance of reasoning from first principles to understand the implications of new technologies like AI and how they could fundamentally change computing and software development.

25:05

💼 Leadership During Challenging Times

Jensen shares his approach to leading Nvidia through challenging times, such as when the company lost 80% of its market cap during the financial crisis. He emphasizes the importance of gut-checking core beliefs, focusing on the company's mission, and being transparent with employees to keep them motivated and empowered.

30:06

🗺️ Creating a Flat and Empowered Organization

Jensen explains his philosophy behind creating a flat and highly empowered organization at Nvidia. He believes in minimizing layers of information flow and trusting employees with important information to enable them to make smart decisions. Jensen's goal is to create conditions where employees can do their life's work and contribute to the company's mission.

35:06

🔮 The Future of Generative AI and Computing

Jensen discusses the implications of generative AI and its ability to understand and generate content across different modalities (text, images, speech, etc.). He explains how this technology could fundamentally change the way we process information, write software, and approach computing. Jensen encourages reasoning from first principles to understand how different industries and applications might be disrupted by generative AI.

40:08

🌍 Redefining Tomorrow and Nvidia's Contribution

When asked about redefining tomorrow, Jensen emphasizes the importance of making a unique contribution to advancing the future of computing, which he believes is the most important instrument for humanity. He envisions Nvidia being remembered as a company that changed everything through its work in creating new technologies and enabling new markets.

45:10

🤖 Addressing Concerns About AI Development Pace and Regulation

Jensen acknowledges the concerns about the pace of AI development and the need for regulation. He emphasizes the importance of advancing technologies for grounding, safety, and security to mitigate risks. Jensen advocates for product and service-specific regulations rather than an overarching 'super regulation' and highlights the need for social implications of AI to be addressed.

50:11

🤵 Rapid-Fire Questions and Advice

Jensen responds to a series of rapid-fire questions, including recalling his fondest memory from working at Denny's, what he would wear if there were a shortage of black leather jackets, and what he would title a hypothetical textbook. As a parting piece of advice, he encourages having a core belief, gut-checking it every day, pursuing it with all one's might, surrounding oneself with loved ones, and taking them on that journey.

55:13

🙏 Closing Remarks

The session concludes with Jensen expressing gratitude for the opportunity to share his insights and experiences.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Founder

The term 'Founder' refers to an individual or group of individuals who establish a company or startup. In the video, Jensen discusses his journey from working at LSI Logic to becoming a founder of Nvidia alongside Chris and Curtis. This transition highlights the leap from being an employee to taking on the entrepreneurial challenge of building a new company, motivated by the desire to solve unique problems that conventional computing couldn't address at the time.

💡Accelerated Computing

Accelerated Computing refers to the use of specialized hardware to perform computational tasks more efficiently than traditional CPUs. The video narrative describes Nvidia's focus on accelerated computing as a cornerstone for its mission, aiming to build computers that solve problems normal computers can't. Jensen discusses the early days of the PC revolution and how the company decided to contribute to it by focusing on areas like computational drug design, weather simulation, and AI, highlighting the foundational goal of Nvidia.

💡3D Graphics

3D Graphics is used in the context of Nvidia's initial killer application, identified by Jensen and his team as the technology focus for their company. This choice was driven by the challenge and opportunity of making high-cost image generation technologies, like those used in workstations, more accessible for the video game market. The narrative emphasizes how this decision shaped Nvidia's early direction and success, underlining the importance of selecting impactful applications for emerging technologies.

💡Microprocessor Revolution

The Microprocessor Revolution refers to a pivotal period in computing history characterized by rapid advancements in microprocessor technology, leading to the widespread adoption of personal computers. Jensen recounts Nvidia's inception during this transformative era, highlighting the environment of innovation and the anticipation of significant change, such as the launch of Windows 95 and the Pentium processor, that Nvidia was born into and aimed to contribute to through accelerated computing and graphics.

💡Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship in this context refers to the process of starting and building a new business venture to innovate and solve problems. Jensen's narrative embodies the entrepreneurial spirit, from taking the risk of leaving a stable job to tackle the uncertainties of founding Nvidia, to navigating the challenges of identifying markets and technologies that could leverage the company's strengths. His story illustrates the essence of entrepreneurship - vision, risk-taking, and perseverance.

💡Computational Drug Design

Computational Drug Design is mentioned as one of the problems Nvidia set out to solve with its technology. This field involves using computer algorithms to discover, enhance, or study drugs and biological systems. Jensen's inclusion of this area underlines Nvidia's broader mission to impact sectors beyond traditional computing, demonstrating the company's ambition to contribute to advancing scientific research and healthcare through accelerated computing and AI.

💡AI (Artificial Intelligence)

AI is a central theme in Jensen's discussion, reflecting Nvidia's pivot and significant contribution to the field through GPU acceleration. Jensen discusses AI in the context of Nvidia driving down computational costs, enabling new software development paradigms where computers can generate code, leading to advancements in autonomous vehicles, robotics, and more. The mention of AI showcases Nvidia's role in the evolution of computing from graphics to general computational acceleration, facilitating groundbreaking advancements in technology.

💡Business Plan

The Business Plan segment offers insights into Jensen's approach to entrepreneurship and the practical challenges of starting a company. He humorously recounts his attempt to learn how to write a business plan from a book, only to realize the urgency and complexity of his endeavor required a more direct approach. This anecdote serves to underscore the hands-on, learn-as-you-go aspect of building a startup, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and vision over formal planning in the early stages.

💡Innovation

Innovation is a key concept throughout the video, reflecting Nvidia's commitment to pioneering new technologies and markets. Jensen details how Nvidia's willingness to tackle hard problems, like making 3D graphics accessible or venturing into AI and deep learning, showcases the company's innovation DNA. The story of Nvidia's adaptation and success in multiple technology revolutions exemplifies how continuous innovation is crucial for staying relevant and leading in the tech industry.

💡Ecosystem

Ecosystem in this context refers to the comprehensive range of Nvidia's technologies, software, and platforms that together enable various applications in computing, AI, gaming, and more. Jensen's discussion about Nvidia creating not just technology but markets emphasizes the importance of building an ecosystem where different elements complement and enhance each other, facilitating broader adoption and enabling new capabilities across industries.

Highlights

Jensen Huang explains his motivation for co-founding NVIDIA, driven by the belief that they could create a computer that solves problems regular CPUs couldn't handle and the aspiration to work on impactful projects that would make the world better.

Huang emphasizes the importance of finding early indicators of future success when investing in a long-term vision, even when the market doesn't exist yet. He cites examples like the first fuzzy cat image from deep learning research as an early sign of its potential impact.

During challenging times like NVIDIA's 80% market cap drop, Huang advocates for going back to core beliefs, gut-checking assumptions, and continuing the work if those foundational principles remain unchanged.

Huang attributes NVIDIA's success to creating a highly empowered organization where employees understand the context and can make smart decisions by being transparent with information and trusting them to handle complex situations.

Huang explains how generative AI represents a fundamental shift in computing, moving from retrieval-based models to generation-based models, and the implications this will have on industries, applications, and how we think about computing overall.

Huang advocates for going back to first principles and reasoning through the core implications of new technologies like generative AI, rather than being constrained by existing organizational structures or ways of thinking.

Huang believes that regulations for AI should be focused on products and services, leveraging existing regulatory bodies like the FDA and FAA, rather than creating overarching, cross-cutting regulations that may impede progress.

Huang advises having a core belief, gut-checking it every day, pursuing it with all your might for a very long time, and surrounding yourself with people you love on that journey.

Huang emphasizes the importance of creating the conditions for employees to do their life's work, which involves empowering them with information, transparency, and trust, rather than limiting information flow.

Huang highlights the value of learning from textbooks and archive papers, going back to first principles, and reinventing solutions based on current conditions and motivations, rather than incrementally building on past approaches.

Huang discusses the early decision to focus on 3D graphics and video games as the initial killer app for NVIDIA, despite the technology being expensive and the market being non-existent at the time, driven by the belief in the importance of the work.

Huang emphasizes the importance of making a unique contribution that advances the field of computing, which he sees as the most important instrument of humanity, and being remembered for doing something insanely hard that changed everything.

Huang advises against being constrained by existing organizational structures or hierarchies, and instead designing organizations based on first principles, considering the inputs, outputs, and environmental conditions the company operates in.

Huang shares his approach of looking forward in time and reasoning backwards, imagining the impact NVIDIA will have made and working backwards to achieve that desired end result, rather than looking forward from the present.

Huang highlights the importance of surrounding himself with genius-level talent across all domains, acknowledging that NVIDIA has the deepest technology management team the world has ever seen.

Transcripts

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[Music]

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Jensen this is such an honor thank you

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for being here I'm delighted to be here

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thank you in honor of your return to

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Stanford I decided we'd start talking

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about the time when you first left you

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joined LSI logic and that was one of the

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most exciting companies at the time

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you're building a phenomenal reputation

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with some of the biggest names in Tech

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and yet you decide to leave to become a

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Founder what motivated

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you uh uh Chris and Curtis Chris and

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Curtis uh uh I was an engineer at LS

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logic and Chris and Curtis were at Sun

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and I was working with with uh some of

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the brightest Minds in computer science

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at the time of all time uh including

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andyto shim and others uh building

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building workstations and Graphics

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workstations and so on so forth and uh

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Chris and Curtis uh uh said one day that

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they like to leave some son and they

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like uh me to go figure out what they're

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going to go leave

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four and and um I had a great

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job but they they insisted that I uh

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figure out you know with them how to how

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to build a company and so so we hung out

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at Denny when whenever they Dro by and

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and uh uh which was which is by the way

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my alma marter my my first

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company uh you know my first job before

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for before CEO was a was a dishwasher

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and so and and I did that very

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well and and so anyways uh we got

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together and and we we DEC and it was

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during the the microprocessor Revolution

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this is 1993 and and 1992 when we were

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getting together the PC Revolution was

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just getting going you you know that

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Windows 95 obviously which is the

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Revolutionary version of Windows uh

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didn't even come to the market yet and

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Pentium wasn't even announced yet and so

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and this is this is all before the right

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before the PC Revolution and it was it

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was pretty clear that that uh the

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microprocessor was going to be very

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important and we we thought you know why

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don't we build a company uh to go solve

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problems that a normal computer that is

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powered by general purpose Computing

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can't and and so that that became the

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company's Mission uh to go to go build a

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computer uh the type of computers and

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solve problems that normal computers

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can't and to this day uh we're focusing

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on that and if you look at all the the

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problems that that um and the markets

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that we opened up as a result uh it's

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you know things like uh computational

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drug design um uh weather simulation

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materials design these are all things

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that we're really really proud of uh

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robotics uh self-driving cars uh

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autonomous autonomous uh software we

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call artificial intelligence and then

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all you know of course uh we uh we drove

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the the uh U the techn techology so hard

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that that eventually the computational

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cost uh uh went to approximately zero

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and then enabled enabled a whole new way

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of developing software where the

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computer wrote the software itself

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artificial intelligence as we know it

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today and so so I that was that was it

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that was the journey yeah thank you all

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for

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[Laughter]

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coming well these applications are on

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all of our minds today but back then the

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CEO of LSI logic

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convinced his biggest investor Don

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Valentine to meet with you he is

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obviously the founder of seoa yeah now I

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can see a lot of Founders here edging

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forward in anticipation but how did you

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convince the most sought-after investor

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in Silicon Valley to invest in a team of

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firsttime Founders building a new

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product for a market that doesn't even

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exist I I didn't know how to write a

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business

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plan and and uh uh so I went to a went

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to a book

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bookstore and back then there were

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bookstores and and and um in the

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business book section there was this

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book and it was written by somebody I

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knew Gordon Bell and this book I should

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go find it again but it's a very large

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book and the book says how to write a

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business

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plan and and that was you know a highly

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specific title for a very niche market

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and it seems like he wrote it for like

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you know 14 people and I was one of them

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and and so I I bought the book I I

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should have known right away that that

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it was a bad idea because that you know

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Gordon is super super smart and super

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smart people have a lot to say and and

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they wanted you know and I I'm pretty

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sure Gordon wants to teach me how to

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write a business plan uh completely and

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so I I picked up this book it's like 450

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pages long well I never got through it

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not even close I I flipped through it a

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few pages and I go you know what by the

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time I'm done reading this this thing

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I'll be out of business I'll be out of

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money and and uh Lori and I only had

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about 6 months uh in the bank and we had

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already Spencer Madison and and uh and a

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dog and so the five of us had to live

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off of you know uh whatever money we had

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in the bank and and so I didn't have

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much time uh and so instead of writing

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the business plan uh I just went to talk

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to to W Coran he turn he called me one

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day and said hey you know you left the

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company you didn't even tell me what you

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were doing I want you to come back and

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explain it to me and so I went back and

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I explained it to Wi and wi wi at the

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end of it he he said I have no idea what

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you

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said and and um that's one of the worst

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elevator pitches I've ever

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heard um and then he picked up the phone

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and he called Don Valentine and he he

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called Don and he says Don I want you to

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give I'm going to send a kid over I want

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you to give him

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money he's one of the best employees l

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logic ever ever had and um I and and so

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the thing I learned is is

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uh uh you you can make up a great

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interview you could even have a bad

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interview but you can't run away from

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your past and so have a good past you

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know try to have a good past and and and

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in a lot of ways I was serious when I

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said I was a good dishwasher I was

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probably Denny's best

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dishwasher um I I planned my work I was

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organized you know I was Misan plus and

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then I washed The Living Daylights out

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of the dishes and then and then you know

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they promoted me to bus I was certain

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I'm the best bus boy Denny's ever had

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you know I was I never left a station

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with empty-handed I never came back

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empty-handed I was very efficient and

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then they and so anyways eventually I

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became you know a CEO I'm working I'm

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still working on being being a good CEO

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but you talk about being the bad you

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needed to be the best among 89 other

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companies that were funded after you to

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build the same thing and then with 6 to9

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months of Runway left you realized that

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the initial Vision was just not going to

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work MH how did you decide what to do

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next to save the company when the cards

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were so stacked against

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you well we started uh this company

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called for Accelerated Computing and the

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question is what is it for what's the

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killer app and and uh that was that that

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came our first great

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decision um and this is what sequa

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funded the first great decision was the

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first killer app was going to be 3D

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graphics and the the the technology was

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going to be 3D graphics and the

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application was going to be video games

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at the Time 3D Graphics was impossible

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to make cheap it was Million

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dooll image generators from Silicon

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graphics and the video and so it was a

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million dollars and and it's hard to

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make cheap um and the video game Market

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was0 billion doar so you have this

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incredible technology that's hard to uh

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commoditize and commercialize and then

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you have this Market that doesn't exist

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that was that intersection was the

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founding of our company and and I still

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remember uh when when Don at the end of

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my

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presentation uh you know Don was still

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kind of he he said you know know one of

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the things he said to me which made a

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lot of sense back then makes a lot of

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sense today he says startups don't

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invest in startups or startups don't

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partner with startups and his point is

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that in order for NVIDIA to succeed we

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needed another startup to succeed and

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that other startup was Electronic

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Arts and and then on the way out he he

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reminded me that electronic arts's

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CTO is 14 years old and had to be driven

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to work by his

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mom and he just wanted to remind me that

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that's who I'm relying on that that and

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then and uh and then after that he said

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if you lose my money I'll kill you and

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that that was that was kind of my

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memories of that first

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meeting uh but nonetheless uh we created

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we created something uh we went on uh

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the next several years to go create the

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market to create the gaming market for

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PCs and it took a long time to do so

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we're still doing it today uh we realize

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that not only do you have to create the

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technology and uh invent a new way of

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doing computer Graphics so that what was

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a million dollars is now you know three

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400 $500 um that fits in the computer

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and you have to go create this new

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market so we have to create technology

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create markets the idea that a company

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would create technology create markets

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defines Nvidia today almost everything

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we do we create technology we create

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markets that's that's the reason why

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people say we have a you know people

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call it a stack an ecosystem words like

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that um but that's basically it at the

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core for 30 years what Nvidia realized

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we had to do is in order to uh create

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the conditions by which somebody could

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buy our products we had to go invent

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this new market and uh it's the reason

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why we were early in autonomous driving

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it was the reason why we're early in

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deep learning it was the reason why

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we're early and just about all these

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things including uh computational drug

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disc drug design and and Discovery um

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all these different areas we're trying

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to create the market while we're

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creating the technology and so that

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that's um uh okay and then we got we got

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going and and then and then um Microsoft

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introduced uh a standard called direct

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3D and that spawned off hundreds of

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companies and we found ourselves a

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couple years later competing with just

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about everybody and and the thing that

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that we invented the company the

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technology we invented uh 3D graphics

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with the consumerized 3D with turns out

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to be incompatible with direct 3D so we

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started this company we had this 3D

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Graphics thing we million-dollar thing

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we're trying to make it consumerized and

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so we invented all this technology and

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then shortly after it became

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incompatible and um uh so we had to

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reset the company uh or go out of

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business but we didn't know how to we

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didn't know how to build it the way that

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Microsoft had defined it and um and I

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remember I remember a meeting at at you

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know on a weekend and the conversation

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was you know we now have 89

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competitors uh I understand that the way

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we do it is not not right but we don't

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know how to do it the right

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way and and um thankfully there was

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another bookstore and

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um and the bookstore is called fries

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Fries electronics I don't think I don't

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know if it's still here um and so I had

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I had I had um I I I think I drove madis

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and my daughter on a weekend to fries

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and and it was sitting right

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there the openg manual uh which would

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defined uh how silicon Graphics did

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computer graphics and so it was it was

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right there it was like $68 a book and

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so I had a couple hundred dollar I

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bought three books I took it back to the

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office and I said guys I found it our

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future and I handed out I had three

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versions of it handed out had a big nice

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centerfold you know the centerfold is

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the opengl pipeline which is the

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computer Graphics Pipeline and um uh and

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I handed it to uh the same Geniuses that

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I founded the company with and we

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implemented the openg pipeline like

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nobody had ever implemented the opengl

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pipeline and we built something the

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world never seen and so uh a lot of

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lessons are right there that moment in

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time for our company

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uh gave us so much confidence and the

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reason for that is you can

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succeed in doing something inventing a

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future even if you were not informed

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about it at all and is kind of the my

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attitude about everything now you know

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when somebody tells me about something

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and I've never heard of it before or if

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I've heard of it never don't understand

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how it works at all my first thought is

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always you know how hard can it be

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and it's probably just a textbook away

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you know you're probably one archive

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paper away from figuring this out and so

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I spent a lot of time reading archive

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papers and um and it it's true it's true

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you can you can um now of course you

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can't learn how somebody else does

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something and do it exactly the same way

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and hope to have a different outcome but

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you could learn how something can be

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done and then go back to First

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principles and ask yourself um giving

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the conditions today given my motivation

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given the instruments the tools um given

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you know how things have changed how

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would I redo

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this how would I reinvent this whole

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thing how would I design a how would I

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build a car today would I build it

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incrementally from 1950s and 1900s how

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would I build a computer today how would

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I write software today does that make

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sense and so I go back to First

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principles all the time uh even in the

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company today and just reset ourselves

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you know because the world has changed

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and U the way we wrote software in the

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past was monolithic and it's designed

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for supercomputers but now it's

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disaggregated it's you know so on so

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forth and how we think about software

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today how we think about computers today

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how we think just always cause your

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company always cause yourself to go back

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to first first principles and it creates

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lots and lots of opportunities yeah the

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way you applied this technology turns to

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be revolutionary you get all the

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momentum that you need to IPO and then

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some more because you grow your Revenue

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nine times in the next four years but in

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the middle of all of this success you

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decide to Pivot a little bit the focus

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of innovation happening at Nvidia based

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on a phone call you have with this

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chemistry professor can you tell us

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about that phone call and how you

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connected the dots from what you heard

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to where you

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went uh remember at the core the company

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was uh pioneering a new way of doing

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Computing computer Graphics was the

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first application uh but we already

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always knew that there would be other

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applications and so image processing

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came particle physics came fluids came

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so on so forth all kinds of interesting

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things that we wanted to do uh we made

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the processor more programmable so that

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we could express more algorithms if you

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will and then one day we invented um uh

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programable shaders which made all forms

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of Imaging and computer Graphics

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programmable that was a great

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breakthrough so we invented Ed that on

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top of that we invented uh we we tried

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to look for ways to express um uh more

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comp more sophisticated algorithms uh

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that could be computation that could be

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computed on our processor which is very

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different than a CPU and so we we

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created this thing called CG this I

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think it was 2003 or so C for

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gpus it predated Cuda by about three

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years um the same person who wrote The

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textbook that saved the company Mark

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Hilgard wrote that

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textbook and um I and so CG was was

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super cool we wrote textbooks about it

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we started teaching people how to use it

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we developed tools and such um and then

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several several researchers discovered

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it uh many of the researchers here

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students here at Stanford was using it

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um many of the the engineers that that

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then became uh engineers at Nvidia were

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were uh playing with it uh

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uh a doctor a couple of doctors at at

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Mass General picked it up and used it

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for uh CT reconstruction so I flew out

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and saw them and said you know what are

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you guys doing with this thing and uh

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they told me about that and then and

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then uh a um uh a

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computational a Quantum chemist uh used

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it to um uh Express his his algorithms

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and so I I realized that that there's

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there's some evidence that people might

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want to use this

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uh and and it gave it gave us gave us

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you know incrementally more more

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confidence that that we ought to go do

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this that that this field this form of

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computing could solve problems that

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normal computers really can't and and um

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reinforced our belief and and kept us

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going every time you heard something new

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you really savored that surprise and

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that seems to be a theme throughout your

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leadership at Nvidia U it feels like you

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make the these bets so far in advance of

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Technology inflections that when the

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Apple finally falls from the tree you're

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standing right there in your black

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leather jacket waiting to catch

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it how do you find the conv always seems

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like a diving catch oh it does seem like

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a diving catch you do things based on

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core beliefs you know we we uh we we

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deeply believe that that we uh we

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could create a computer that solves

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problems Norm processing can't do that

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there are limits to what a CPU can do

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there are limits to what general purpose

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Computing can do and then there are

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interesting problems uh that we can go

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solve the question the question is

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always are those in interesting problems

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only or are they can they also be

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interesting markets because if they're

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not interesting markets it's not

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sustainable and Nvidia went through

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about a decade where we were investing

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in this future and the markets didn't

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exist there was only One Market at the

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time was computer Graphics uh for 10 15

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years the markets that fuels Nvidia

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today just didn't exist and so so how do

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you

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continue um uh with all of the people

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around you you know our company and you

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know nvidia's management team and all of

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the amazing Engineers that they're

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creating this future with me um all of

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your shareholders your board of

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directors all your partners you're

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you're taking everybody with you and

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there's no evidence uh of a market that

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is really really challenging you know

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the fact that the technology can solve

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problems and the fact that you have

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research papers that that are used that

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that are made possible because of it are

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interesting but you're always looking

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for that market but nonetheless before a

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market exists you still need early

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indicators of future

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success you know we we have this phrase

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in the company is is you know there's a

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phrase called key performance indicators

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unfortunately kpis are hard to

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understand I find kpis hard to

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understand what's a good

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kpi you know a lot of people you know

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when when we look for kpis we go gross

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margins that's not a kpi that's a

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result you know you're looking for

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something that's an early indicators of

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future positive results okay and as

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early as possible and the reason for

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that is because you want early indic

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that early sign that you're going in the

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right direction

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and so we have this phrase is called EO

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ifs FS you know early indicators e FS

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early indicators of future success and

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and um and it helps people uh uh because

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I was using it all the time to give the

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company hope that hey look we solved

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this problem we solved that problem we

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solved this problem the markets didn't

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exist but there were important problems

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and that's what the company's about to

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solve these problems uh we want to be

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sustainable

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and therefore the markets have to exist

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at some point but you you want you want

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to decouple the result from um uh from

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evidence that you're doing the right

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thing okay and so so so that's how you

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that's how you kind of solve this

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problem of investing into something

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that's very very far away um and having

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the the conviction uh to stay on the

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road is to find as early as possible the

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indicators that you're doing the right

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things and so uh start with a core

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belief unless something you know changes

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your mind you continue to believe in it

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and um look for early indicators of

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future success what are some of those

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early indicators that have been used by

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product teams at

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Nvidia uh all kinds

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um uh uh I saw I saw I saw a uh a paper

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uh long before I saw the paper I met

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some people that needed my help on on um

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uh on this thing called Deep learning at

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a time I didn't even know what deep

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learning Le was and um and they needed

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us to create a domain specific language

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so that um all of their algorithms could

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be expressed easily on our on our

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processors and we created this thing

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called

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cdnn and it's essentially the SQL um uh

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SQL is in in storage Computing this is

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um neuron network computing and uh we

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created a a language if you will domain

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specific language for that you know kind

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of like the openg GL of of uh deep

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learning and so we we uh they needed us

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to do that so that they they could

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express their mathematics and uh they

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didn't understand Cuda but they

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understood their deep learning and so we

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created this thing in the middle for

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them uh and the reason why we did it was

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because uh even though there were zero I

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mean this you know these researchers had

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no money uh and and this is kind of one

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of the the great skills of our company

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that that you're willing to do something

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even though the financial returns are

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complet completely non-existent or maybe

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very very far out even if you believed

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in it uh we we ask ourselves you know is

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this worthy work to do um does this

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Advance a field of science somewhere

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that matters notice this is something

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that I I've been talking about you know

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since the very beginning of time uh we

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ex we we find inspiration uh not from

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the size of a market from but from the

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importance of the

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work uh because the importance of the

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work is the early indicators of a future

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Market

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and nobody has to write a nobody has to

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do a a um a business case on it nobody

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has to show me a a pnl uh nobody has to

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show me a financial forecast the only

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question is is this important work and

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if we didn't do it uh would it happen

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without us now if we didn't do something

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and something could happen without us it

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gives me tremendous Joy actually and the

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reason for that is could you imagine the

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world got better you didn't have to lift

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a finger that's the definition of you

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know of of uh ultimate laziness and and

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and in a lot of ways in a lot of ways

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you want that habit and the reason for

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that is

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this uh you want the company to be lazy

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about doing things that other people

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always do can do if somebody else can do

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it let them do it we should go select

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the things that if we didn't do it the

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world the world would fall apart you

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have to convince yourself of that that

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if I don't do this it won't get

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done that is Inc and and if that work is

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hard and that work is impactful and

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important then it gives you a sense of

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purpose does that make sense and so our

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company has been selecting these

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projects deep learning was just one of

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them and the first indicator of of the

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success of that was this you know fuzzy

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cat that that Andrew an came up with and

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um then Alex

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kvki uh detected cats um you know not

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all the time but you know successfully

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enough that it was you know this might

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take us somewhere and then we reasoned

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about the structure of deep learning and

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you know we're computer scientists and

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we understand how things work and and so

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we we uh we convinced ourselves this

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could change everything and and um and

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anyhow that but that's an that's an

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example so these selections that you've

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made they've paid huge dividends both

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literally and figuratively um but you've

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had to steer the company through some

play25:20

very challenging times like when it lost

play25:22

80% of its market cap amid the financial

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crisis cuz what Wall Street didn't

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believe in your bet on ML um in times

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like these how do you steer the company

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and keep the employees motivated at the

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task at hand uh it's this is the my

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reaction during that time is the same

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reaction I had about this week uh

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earlier today you asked me about this

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week my pulse was exactly the

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same this week is no different than last

play25:51

week or the week before that um and so

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the opposite of that you know when you

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drop it

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80% um it don't get me

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wrong when when your share price drops

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80% it's a little embarrassing okay and

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and um you just want to you just want to

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wear a t-shirt that says wasn't my

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fault

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um but even more than that you just you

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just don't want to you you don't want to

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get out of your bed you don't want to

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leave the house um all of that is true

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all of that is true um but then you go

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back to go back to just doing your job I

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woke up at the same time I prioritize my

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day in the same way uh I go back to what

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do I believe uh you got to gut check

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always gut check back to the court you

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know what do you believe uh what are the

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most important things uh and uh just

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check them off you know sometimes

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sometimes it's helpful to you know

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family loves me okay check um you know

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double you know right and so you just

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got to check it off and and you go back

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to your core um and then go back to work

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and and then every conversations go back

play27:02

to the core uh keep the company focused

play27:04

back on the core do you believe in it

play27:06

did something change the stock price

play27:08

changed but did something else change

play27:10

the physics change the gravity

play27:13

change did did all of the things that

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that that we assumed uh that we believed

play27:19

that led to our decision did any of

play27:20

those things change because if those

play27:23

things change you got to change

play27:24

everything but if none of those things

play27:25

change you change nothing you keep on

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going yeah yeah that's how you do

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it in speaking with your employees they

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say that you try to avoid the

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public in speaking with your employees

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they've said that your leadership

play27:39

including the employees I'm just

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kidding no le lead leaders have to be

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seen unfortunately that's the hard

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that's the hard part you know I I I was

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I was I was at I was I was an electrical

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engineering student and I was quite

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Young when I went to school um when I

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went to went to College I was I was

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still 16 years old and so I was I was

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young when I did everything and and so I

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was a bit of an introvert kind of you

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know I'm shy I don't enjoy public

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speaking I'm delighted to be here I'm

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not suggesting um but but it's it's not

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something that I do naturally and and um

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I and so so when when things are

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challenging um uh it's not easy to be in

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front of precisely the people that you

play28:26

care most about

play28:28

you know and the reason for that is

play28:30

because could you imagine a company

play28:32

meeting we just our stock prices dropped

play28:33

by

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80% and the most important thing I have

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to do as the CEO is this to come and

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face you explain it and partly you're

play28:44

not sure why

play28:47

partly you're not sure how long uh how

play28:51

bad yeah you just don't know these

play28:52

things and and but you still got to

play28:54

explain it face face all these people

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and you know what they're thinking you

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know you you know some of them are

play29:02

probably thinking we're doomed uh some

play29:04

people are probably thinking you're an

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idiot and some people are probably

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thinking you know something else and so

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I um there are a lot of things that

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people are thinking and you know that

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they're thinking those things but you

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still have to get in front of them and

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and and deal you know do the hard work

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they may be thinking of those things but

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yet not a single person of your

play29:22

leadership team left during times like

play29:24

this and in fact

play29:26

unemployable

play29:28

that's what I keep reminding them I'm

play29:31

just kidding I'm surrounded by Geniuses

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I'm surrounded by Geniuses yeah other

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Geniuses un un unbelievable uh Nvidia is

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well known to have singularly the best

play29:43

management team on the planet this is

play29:45

the deepest technology management team

play29:48

the world's ever seen I'm surrounded by

play29:50

a whole bunch of them and they're just

play29:52

genius business teams marketing teams

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sales teams just incredible and

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engineering teams my research teams

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unbelievable yeah your employees say

play30:03

that your leadership style is very

play30:05

engaged you have 50 direct reports you

play30:08

encourage people across all parts of the

play30:11

organization to send you the top five

play30:13

things on their mind and you constantly

play30:15

remind people that no task is beneath

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you can you tell us why you've

play30:21

purposefully designed such a flat

play30:23

organization and how should we be

play30:25

thinking about our organizations that we

play30:26

designed in the

play30:28

future uh no task is is to me no task is

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beneath me because remember I used to be

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a dishwasher and I and I mean that I

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used to clean toilets I mean you know I

play30:38

cleaned a lot of toilets I've cleaned

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more toilets than all of you

play30:41

combined and and some of them just can't

play30:46

[Laughter]

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unsee I don't know I I don't know what

play30:51

to tell you you know that's life and and

play30:55

so so uh uh you can't show me and you

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can't show me a task that is that's

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beneath me um now I'm not doing it I'm

play31:03

not doing it uh only because because of

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uh you know whether it's beneath me or

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not beneath me U if you send me

play31:11

something and you want my input on it

play31:14

and I can be of service to you and in my

play31:17

in my review of IT share with you how I

play31:20

reason through it uh I've made a

play31:22

contribution to you I've made I've made

play31:25

it possible for you to see how I reason

play31:26

through something and and by reasoning

play31:30

as you know how someone reasons through

play31:32

something empowers you you go oh my gosh

play31:35

that's how you reason through something

play31:36

like this it's not as complicated as it

play31:39

seems this is how you reason through

play31:41

something that's super ambiguous this is

play31:43

how you reason through something that's

play31:45

incalculable this is how you reason

play31:47

through something that you know seems to

play31:49

be very scary this is how you seem do

play31:51

you understand and so I show people how

play31:54

to reason through things all the

play31:56

time strategy things you know how to

play32:00

forecast something how to break a

play32:02

problem down uh and you're just you're

play32:05

empowering people all over the place and

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so that's how I see it if you send me

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something you want me to help review it

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uh I'll do my best and I'll show you how

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I would do it um I in the process of

play32:17

doing that of course I learned a lot

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from you is that right you gave me a

play32:21

seat of a lot of information I learned a

play32:23

lot and so I I feel rewarded by the

play32:26

process um it does take a lot of energy

play32:28

sometimes because you know you got in

play32:30

order to add value to somebody and

play32:31

they're incredibly smart as a starting

play32:33

point and I'm surrounded by incredibly

play32:34

smart people you have to at least get to

play32:37

their plane you know you have to get

play32:38

into their head space and that's really

play32:41

hard that's really hard um and that

play32:44

takes just an enormous amount of

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emotional and intellectual energy and so

play32:48

I feel exhausted after after I I work on

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things like that um I'm surrounded by by

play32:54

a lot of great people a CEO should have

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the most direct report rep s um uh by

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definition because the people that

play33:00

reports to the CEO requires the least

play33:02

amount of

play33:03

management it makes no sense to me that

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CEOs have so few people reporting to

play33:08

them except for one fact that I know to

play33:11

be true the the knowledge the

play33:14

information of a CEO is supposedly so so

play33:17

valuable so secretive you can only share

play33:20

with two other people or

play33:23

three and their information is so

play33:26

invaluable so incredibly secretive that

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they can only share with a couple

play33:31

more well

play33:34

um I don't believe in in in a culture an

play33:37

environment where the information that

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you possess is the reason why you have

play33:44

power I would like us all to to to

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contribute to the company and our

play33:50

position in the company should have

play33:52

something to do with our ability to

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reason through complicated things lead

play33:57

other people to um achieve greatness um

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Inspire Empower other people um support

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other people those are the reasons why

play34:05

the the management team exists in

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service of all of the other people that

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work in the company to create the

play34:11

conditions by which all of the all of

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these amazing people who volunteer to

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come work for you instead of all the

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other amazing high-tech companies around

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the world they elected they volunteer to

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work for you and so you should create

play34:24

the conditions by which they could do

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their life's work which is

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Mission you know you probably heard it

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i' I've said that you know pretty

play34:32

clearly and I and I believe that what my

play34:35

job is is very simply to create the

play34:37

conditions by which you could do your

play34:39

life's work and so how do I do that what

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does that condition look like well that

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condition should um result in great deal

play34:46

of empowerment you should you can only

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be empowered if you understand the

play34:49

circumstance isn't it right you have to

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understand the cont you have to

play34:53

understand the context of the situation

play34:54

you're in in order for you to come up

play34:55

with great ideas

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and so I have to create a circumstance

play34:59

where you understand the context which

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means you have to be

play35:03

informed and the best way to be informed

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is for there to be as little layers

play35:09

of information

play35:12

mutilation right between us and so

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that's the reason why it's very often

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that I'm reasoning through things like

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in an audience like this I say first of

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all this is the beginning facts these

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are the data that we have um this is how

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I would reason through it these are some

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of the assumptions these are some of the

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unknowns these are some of the

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knowns and so you reason through it and

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now you've created an organization

play35:37

that's highly empowered nvidia's 30,000

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people we're the smallest large company

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in the world we're tiny little company

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but every employee is so empowered and

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they're making smart decisions on my

play35:49

behalf every single day and the reason

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for that is because you know they

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understand that they understand my

play35:55

condition

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they understand my condition I'm very

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transparent with people um and uh and I

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believe that that I can trust you with

play36:04

the information often times the

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information is hard to hear and uh the

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the situations are complicated uh but I

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trust that you can handle it you're you

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know a lot of people hear me say you

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know these you're adults here you can

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handle this sometimes they're not really

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adults they just

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graduated I'm just kidding I know that

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when I first graduated was barely an

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adult and um I but I was I was fortunate

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that I was trusted with with uh with uh

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important information so I want to do

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that I want to create the conditions for

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people to do

play36:38

that I do want to now address the topic

play36:42

that is on everybody's mind AI last week

play36:45

you said that generative Ai and

play36:47

accelerated Computing have hit the

play36:49

Tipping Point so as this technology

play36:51

becomes more mainstream what are the

play36:53

applications that you personally are

play36:55

most excited about

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well you have to go back to First

play36:59

principles and ask yourself what is

play37:01

generative AI what happened um what

play37:04

happened was we have a we now have the

play37:06

ability to have software that can

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understand something they they can

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understand why you know what is first of

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all we digitized everything that was you

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know like for example Gene sequencing

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you digitized genes but what does it

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mean that sequence of genes what does it

play37:21

mean we've digitized amino acids um but

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what does it mean uh and so we now have

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the ability we dig digitize words we

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digitize sounds uh we digitize images

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and videos we digitize a lot of things

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but what does it mean we now have the

play37:37

ability through um a lot of study a lot

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of Da data and from their patterns and

play37:41

relationships we We Now understand what

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they mean not only do we understand what

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they mean we we can translate between

play37:47

them because we learned about the

play37:50

meaning of these things in the same

play37:52

world we didn't learn about them

play37:53

separately so we we learned about speech

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and and words and and paragraphs and

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vocabulary in the same context and so we

play38:01

found correlations between them and

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they're all you know registered if you

play38:05

will registered to each other and so now

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we uh not only do we understand uh the

play38:11

modality the meaning of each modality we

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can understand how to translate between

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them and so uh for obvious things you

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could caption video to text that's

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captioning uh text to uh images M

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Journey uh text to text chat GPT I

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amazing things and so so we now we now

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know that uh we understand meaning and

play38:31

we can translate uh the translation of

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something is generation of information

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and and um uh and all of a sudden you

play38:39

you have to take your you take a step

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back and ask yourself um uh what is the

play38:43

implication in every single layer of

play38:45

everything that we do and so I'm

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exercising in front of you I'm reasoning

play38:50

in front of you uh the same thing I did

play38:52

a quarter uh 15 years ago when I first

play38:55

saw um uh alexnet some 13 14 years ago I

play38:59

guess um I how I reasoned through it uh

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what did I

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see how interesting what can it

play39:08

do very cool but then most importantly

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what does it mean what does it mean what

play39:13

does it mean to every single layer of

play39:15

computing because you know we're in the

play39:16

world of computing and so what it means

play39:18

is that that the way that we um process

play39:21

information fundamentally will be

play39:22

different in the future that's what

play39:24

Nvidia builds you know chips and system

play39:27

the way we write software will be

play39:28

fundamentally different in the future

play39:30

the type of software we'll be able to

play39:31

write write in the future will be

play39:33

different new applications and then ALS

play39:36

also the processing of those

play39:39

applications will be different what was

play39:41

historically a retrieval based model

play39:44

where uh in uh information was pre

play39:48

pre-recorded if you will almost you know

play39:50

we wrote the text pre-recorded and we

play39:52

retrieved it based on uh some

play39:54

recommender system algorithm in the

play39:57

future uh some seed of information will

play39:59

be will be uh the starting point we call

play40:02

them prompts you as you guys know and

play40:04

then we generate the rest of it and so

play40:07

the future of computing will be highly

play40:09

generated well let me give you an

play40:10

example of what's

play40:12

happening for example uh we're having a

play40:14

conversation right now very little of

play40:17

the information I'm trans I'm conveying

play40:19

to you is Retreat most of it is

play40:23

generated it's called intelligence

play40:27

and so in the future we're going to have

play40:28

a lot more generative our computers will

play40:30

will perform in that way it's going to

play40:32

be highly generative instead of Highly

play40:34

retrieval based you go back and you got

play40:36

to ask yourself you know now for for you

play40:39

know entrepreneurs you got to ask

play40:40

yourself uh what industries will be

play40:43

disrupted therefore will we think about

play40:45

networking the same way will we think

play40:46

about storage the same way will we think

play40:47

about would we be as abusive of internet

play40:50

traffic as we are today probably not

play40:54

notice we're having a conversation right

play40:55

now and and I to get in my car every

play40:57

every

play40:58

question so we don't have to be as

play41:01

abusive of of transformation information

play41:05

transporting as we used to um uh what's

play41:08

going to be more what's going to be less

play41:09

uh what kind of applications you know

play41:11

etc etc so you can go through the entire

play41:13

industrial spread and ask yourself

play41:15

what's going to get disrupted what's

play41:16

going to get be different what's going

play41:17

to get NED you know so on so forth and

play41:20

and that reasoning starts from what is

play41:22

happening what is generative

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AI Foundation Al what is happening go

play41:28

back to First principles with all things

play41:30

there was something I was going to tell

play41:31

you about organization you asked the

play41:32

question and I forgot to answer it the

play41:34

way you create an organization by the

play41:36

way someday um don't worry about how

play41:39

other companies or charts look you start

play41:42

from first principles remember what an

play41:44

organization is designed to

play41:46

do the organizations of the past where

play41:49

there's a king you know

play41:53

CE and then then you have all all these

play41:56

you know the Royal subjects you know the

play41:58

Royal Court and then eaff and then you

play42:01

keep working your way down eventually

play42:03

they're employees well the reason why it

play42:05

was designed that way is because they

play42:07

they wanted the employees to have as low

play42:09

information as possible because their

play42:10

fundamental purpose of the soldiers is

play42:13

to die in the field of

play42:15

battle to die without asking questions

play42:18

you guys know

play42:19

this I don't I only have 30,000

play42:22

employees I would like them none of them

play42:24

to die

play42:27

I would like them to question everything

play42:29

does that make sense and so the way you

play42:31

organize in the past and the way you

play42:32

organize today is very different to

play42:34

Second the question is what is nid what

play42:36

does Nvidia build an organization is

play42:38

designed so that we could build what it

play42:40

whatever it is we build

play42:43

better and so if we all build different

play42:45

things why why are we organized the same

play42:48

way why would why would this

play42:51

organizational Machinery be exactly the

play42:54

same irrespective of what you build it

play42:55

doesn't make make any sense you build

play42:58

computers you organize this way you

play42:59

build healthare Services you build

play43:01

exactly the same way it makes no sense

play43:04

whatsoever and so you had to go back to

play43:06

First principles just ask yourself what

play43:07

kind of Machinery what what is the input

play43:09

what is the output what are the

play43:11

properties of this environment you know

play43:14

what what is the what is the what is the

play43:16

forest that this animal has to live in

play43:19

what is this characteristics is it

play43:21

stable most of the time you're trying to

play43:22

squeeze out the last drop of water or is

play43:25

it changing all the time being attacked

play43:28

by everybody and so you got to

play43:30

understand you know you're the CEO your

play43:33

job is to architect this company that's

play43:34

my first job to create the conditions by

play43:37

which you can do your life's work and

play43:38

the architecture has to be right and so

play43:41

you have to go back to First principles

play43:42

and think about those things and I was

play43:44

fortunate that that when I was 29 years

play43:46

old you know I had the benefit of of of

play43:49

taking a step back and asking myself you

play43:51

know how would I build this company for

play43:52

the future and what would it look like

play43:54

and you know what's the operating system

play43:55

which is called culture what do we what

play43:57

kind of behavior do we en encourage

play44:00

enhance and what what do we discourage

play44:02

and not enhance you know so on so forth

play44:04

and anyways I want to save time for

play44:07

audience questions but um this year's

play44:10

theme for view from the top is

play44:11

redefining tomorrow and one question

play44:13

we've asked all of our guests is Jensen

play44:16

as the co-founder and CEO of Nvidia if

play44:19

you were to close your eyes and

play44:21

magically change one thing about

play44:22

tomorrow what would it

play44:25

be

play44:29

were we supposed to think about this in

play44:35

advance I I'm going to give you a

play44:38

horrible answer

play44:42

um I I don't know that it's one thing

play44:45

look there are a lot of things we don't

play44:48

control you know there are a lot of

play44:50

things we don't control um your job is

play44:53

to make a unique contribution live a

play44:56

life of

play44:57

purpose to do something that nobody else

play45:00

in the world would do or can do to make

play45:03

a unique contribution so that in the

play45:05

event that after you done

play45:09

um everybody says you know the world was

play45:13

better because you were

play45:15

here and so I think that that to me um I

play45:20

live I live my life kind of like this I

play45:22

go forward in time and I Look Backwards

play45:26

so you asked me a question that's

play45:27

exactly from a from a computer vision

play45:30

pose perspective exactly the opposite of

play45:32

how I think I never look forward from

play45:35

where I am I go forward in time and look

play45:38

backwards and the reason for that is

play45:40

it's

play45:42

easier I would look backwards and kind

play45:44

of read my

play45:45

history we did this and we did that way

play45:47

and we broke that prom down does that

play45:49

make sense and so it's a little bit like

play45:52

um how you guys solve problems you

play45:55

figure figure out what is the end result

play45:57

that you're looking for and you work

play45:59

backwards to achieve it and so I imagine

play46:02

Nvidia uh making a unique contribution

play46:04

to advancing the the future of of uh of

play46:07

computing which is the single most

play46:09

important instrument of all

play46:11

Humanity now it's not about our self

play46:14

self-importance but this is just what

play46:16

we're good at and it's incredibly hard

play46:18

to do and we believe we can make an

play46:20

absolute unique contribution it's taken

play46:22

US 31 years to be here and we're still

play46:24

just beginning our journey and so this

play46:26

is insanely hard to

play46:28

do and uh uh When I Look Backwards I

play46:31

believe that we made I believe that that

play46:34

we're going to be remembered as a

play46:36

company that kind of changed everything

play46:38

not because we went out and changed

play46:39

everything through all the things that

play46:41

we said but because we did this one

play46:43

thing that was insanely hard to do that

play46:45

we're incredibly good at doing that we

play46:47

loved doing we did for a long time I'm

play46:49

part of the GSP lead I graduated in 2023

play46:53

so my question is how do you see see

play46:56

your company in the next decade as what

play46:59

challenges do you see your company would

play47:01

face and how you are positioned for that

play47:03

first of all can I just tell you what

play47:04

was going on through my head as you say

play47:07

what

play47:08

challenges the list that flew by my

play47:12

head was so so large uh that that I was

play47:17

trying to figure out what to

play47:20

select um now the honest truth is is

play47:23

that when you ask that question

play47:26

most of the challenges that showed up

play47:27

for me were technical

play47:30

challenges and the reason for that is

play47:32

because that was my

play47:34

morning if you were to you know chosen

play47:37

yesterday um it might have been Market

play47:39

creation

play47:40

challenges there are some markets that I

play47:42

gosh I just desperately would love to

play47:44

create I just can't we just do it

play47:47

already you know but we can't do it

play47:49

alone Nvidia is a technology platform

play47:52

company we're here in service of a whole

play47:55

bunch of other the companies so that

play47:57

they could realize if you will our hopes

play48:01

and dreams through

play48:02

them and and so some of the things that

play48:05

I would love I would love for the world

play48:08

of biology to to be at a point where

play48:11

it's kind of like the world of Chip

play48:13

design 40 years ago computer AED and

play48:16

design um Eda that entire industry

play48:20

really made possible for us today and I

play48:23

believe we're going to make possible for

play48:24

them tomorrow

play48:26

computer AED drug design because we're

play48:29

able to now represent genes and proteins

play48:32

and even cells now very very close to be

play48:35

able to represent and understand the

play48:37

meaning of a cell a combination of a

play48:39

whole bunch of genes um what is a cell

play48:42

mean it's kind of like what does that

play48:44

paragraph mean well if we could

play48:47

understand a a cell like we can

play48:49

understand a paragraph imagine what we

play48:51

could do and so uh so so I'm I'm anxious

play48:55

for that to happen you know I'm kind of

play48:57

excited about that uh there's some that

play48:59

I'm just excited about that I know we

play49:02

around the corner on for example uh

play49:04

humanoid

play49:05

robotics very very close around the

play49:07

corner and the reason for that is

play49:08

because if you can tokenize and

play49:09

understand speech why can't you tokenize

play49:11

and understand uh

play49:13

manipulation and so so these kind of

play49:16

computer science techniques you once you

play49:18

figure something out you ask yourself

play49:19

well if got do that why can't I do that

play49:21

and so I'm excited about those kind of

play49:23

things um and so that challenge is kind

play49:25

of a happy

play49:26

challenge uh some of the some of the

play49:29

other challenges some of the other

play49:30

challenges of course are industrial and

play49:33

geopolitical and they're social and and

play49:36

but you've heard all that stuff before

play49:38

these are all true you know the social

play49:40

issues in in the world uh the

play49:42

geopolitical issues in the world uh why

play49:44

can't we just get along uh things in the

play49:47

world why do I have to say those kind of

play49:48

things in the world um why do we have to

play49:50

say those things and then amplify them

play49:52

in the world uh why do we have to judge

play49:53

people so much in the world uh you you

play49:55

know all those things you guys all know

play49:57

that I don't have to say those things

play49:58

over again my name is Jose I'm a class

play50:00

of the 2023 uh from the GSB my question

play50:04

is uh are you worried at all about the

play50:06

pace at which we're developing AI um and

play50:09

do you believe that any sort of

play50:11

Regulation might be needed thank you uh

play50:14

yeah that's uh the answer is yes and no

play50:17

um we need uh you you know that the the

play50:20

the greatest breakthrough in uh modern

play50:23

AI of course deep learning and it

play50:25

enabled great progress but another

play50:28

incredible breakthrough is something

play50:30

that that humans know and we practice

play50:32

all the time uh and we just invented it

play50:34

for uh for language models called uh

play50:37

grounding reinforcement learning human

play50:39

feedback um I provide reinforcement

play50:42

learning human feedback every day that's

play50:44

my job um and their for their parents in

play50:47

the room uh you're providing

play50:49

reinforcement learning human feedback

play50:50

all the time okay now we just figured

play50:53

out how to do that um at a system

play50:55

systematic level for artificial

play50:57

intelligence there are a whole bunch of

play50:59

other technology necessary to uh

play51:02

guardrail uh

play51:04

fine-tune ground for example how do I

play51:07

generate um how do I generate uh uh uh

play51:11

tokens that obey the laws of physics you

play51:14

know right now things are floating in

play51:16

space and doing things and they don't

play51:18

they don't obey the laws of physics um

play51:20

how do that requires technology Guard

play51:22

railing requires technology fine-tuning

play51:24

requires technology alignment requires

play51:26

technology safety requires technology

play51:29

the reason why planes are so safe is

play51:30

because you know all of the autopilot

play51:32

systems are are surrounded by diversity

play51:35

and redundancy and all kinds of

play51:36

different functional safety and active

play51:38

safety systems that were

play51:40

invented I need all of that to be

play51:43

invented much much faster uh you also

play51:46

know that that the border between

play51:49

security and artificial intelligence

play51:51

cyber security and artificial

play51:52

intelligence is going to become blurry

play51:54

and blurry we need technology to advance

play51:56

very very quickly in the area of cyber

play51:58

security in in order to protect us from

play52:00

artificial intelligence and so so in a

play52:03

lot of ways we need technology to go

play52:05

faster a lot faster okay uh regulation

play52:09

there's two types of Regulation uh

play52:11

there's social regulation I don't know

play52:13

what to do about that but there's

play52:15

product and services regulation know

play52:16

exactly what to do about that okay so um

play52:20

the fa the FAA the FDA the uh Nitsa you

play52:24

name it all the the fs and all the NS

play52:26

and all the you know fcc's the they all

play52:30

have regulations for products and

play52:32

services that are have particular use

play52:34

cases uh um uh bar exams and doctors and

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you know so on so forth um you all have

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uh qual qualification exams you all have

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standards that you have to reach you all

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have to uh continuously be certified uh

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accountants and so on so forth whether

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it's a product or a service there are

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lots and lots of

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regulations please do not add a super

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regulation that cuts across of it the

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regulator who is regulating accounting

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should not be the regulator that

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regulates a

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doctor you know I love accountants um

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but I I just you know if I ever need an

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open heart surgery the fact that they

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can close books is interesting but not

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sufficient and so and so I I would like

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I would like um all of those all of

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those fields that already have products

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and services um to also enhance their

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regulation in context of in the context

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of AI okay but I left out this one very

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big one which is this the social

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implication of AI and how do you how do

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you deal with that I don't have great

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answers for that um but you know enough

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people are talking about it but it's

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important to subdivide all of this into

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chunks does that make sense so that we

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don't we don't become super hyperfocused

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on this one thing at the expense of a

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whole bunch of routine things that we

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could have done and as a result people

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are getting killed by cars and planes

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and you know it doesn't make any sense

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we should make sure that we we do the

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right things there okay very practical

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things may I take one more question well

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we have some rapid fire questions for

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you as view from the tradition

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okay I was trying to avoid

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that okay all right far away far away

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well your first job was at Denny's they

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now have a booth dedicated to you what

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was your fondest memory of working my

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second job was AMD by the

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way is there Booth dedicated to me there

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I'm just

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kidding um I'm I love my job there I did

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I love there it's a great company yeah

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yeah um if there were a worldwide

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shortage of black leather jackets what

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would we be see you

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wearing oh no I've I've got a large

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reservoir of black

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jackets I'm the I'll be the only person

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who is who is not

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concerned um you spoke a lot about

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textbooks if you had to write one what

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would it be

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called I wouldn't write

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one you're asking me a hypothetical

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question that has no possibility of of

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of uh that's fair and finally if you

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could share one parting piece of advice

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to broadcast across Stanford what would

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it

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be uh it's not a word but but um I you

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know have a core belief

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um gut check it every

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day I pursue it with all your

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might pursue it for a very long

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time surround yourself with people you

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love and take them on that right so

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that's the story of Nvidia Jensen this

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last hour has been a treat thank you for

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spending thank you very

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much

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[Music]

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than

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