NVIDIA Part 1: Before the AI Revolution

In 1993, NVIDIA was just another ambitious semiconductor startup.

There were dozens of companies fighting to build the future of computer graphics. NVIDIA had to compete, survive failed bets, reinvent its products and find a way to stand out.

At the center of the story was Jensen Huang, a young engineer who believed that 3D graphics would transform the personal computer.

Then came NV1.

Then RIVA.

Then the brutal graphics wars.

Then GeForce.

And finally, in 1999, NVIDIA introduced something that would change computing forever:

the GPU.

Part 1 explores NVIDIA's early years — the founders, the risks, the competition, the first products, the Xbox breakthrough, NVIDIA's IPO and the technology that would eventually become the foundation of modern AI.

At this point in the story, NVIDIA isn't an AI company.

It's a graphics company.

But the seeds of the AI revolution are already being planted.

Part 1 of the NVIDIA story.

From three engineers...

to the GPU.

The AI revolution comes later.