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NVIDIA: Jensen Huang. From near collapse to becoming the world’s biggest company

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NVIDIA: Jensen Huang. From near collapse to becoming the world’s biggest company

By: Guy Raz | Wondery
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Summary

 NVIDIA is one of the most valuable companies in human history. Its chips run the AI systems transforming everything from entertainment to warfare. But for years, almost nobody believed in co-founder Jensen Huang’s vision. Jensen spent nearly a decade pouring billions into a technology called CUDA, long before AI made it profitable. In this deeply personal conversation, Jensen tells Guy why NVIDIA’s very first chip was a catastrophic failure … and how at one point, the company was 30 days away from going out of business. Jensen also explains why he thinks fears about AI are overblown, and why he believes the next generation will have more opportunity — not less — because of AI. What You’ll Learn:Why NVIDIA nearly collapsed before becoming an AI giantHow researchers sparked the AI boom using NVIDIA gaming chipsHow to lead through uncertainty when a huge bet hasn’t yet paid offHow Jensen approaches hard decisions like an engineerWe’re “doing ourselves a disservice” by being afraid: Jensen on AI and job lossHow Jensen defends his demanding management styleWhy past failures still haunt him Key Moments From the Interview:00:05:26 — Jensen Huang’s childhood at an unusual Kentucky boarding school00:12:25 — Why Jensen left a stable career to help start NVIDIA00:14:49 — NVIDIA’s first failure: the NV1 disaster00:17:26 — The desperate trip to Japan that gave the company a lifeline00:20:46 — “The only idea we had” for prototyping: the emulator Hail Mary00:26:13 — The book that shaped Jensen’s thinking about innovation00:30:24 — Why NVIDIA kept investing in CUDA while Wall Street lost faith00:36:58 — The moment AI researchers discovered the power of NVIDIA’s chips 00:47:07 — Jensen on fear of job loss from AI, and why America risks falling behind00:55:46 — Knowing what he knows now, would he do it again? Yes — and no This episode was researched and produced by Alex Cheng with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant. Our engineers were Patrick Murray and Robert Rodriguez. Follow How I Built This: Instagram → @howibuiltthis X → @HowIBuiltThis Facebook → How I Built This Follow Guy Raz: Instagram → @guy.raz Youtube → guy_raz X → @guyraz Substack → guyraz.substack.com Website → guyraz.com©2026 Guy Raz | Wondery (P)2026 Guy Raz | Wondery
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