The world's most popular entrepreneur, Nvidia Jensen Huang, is now very inflated, believing that the entire industry is now shifting from CPUs to GPUs, generative AI is at a tipping point, investment in the AI field will not stop in the short term, and the company's products will continue to be in short supply.
He does have inflated capital, and Nvidia's corporate results released yesterday showed fourth-quarter revenue of a record $22.1 billion, up 22% sequentially and 265% year-over-year, well above our expectations of $20 billion. In fiscal year 2024, revenue reached $60.9 billion, up 126% from the previous year. Data centers, with fiscal year 2024 revenues of $47.5 billion, more than triple the previous year.
The world has reached an inflection point in the new era of computing. Trillions of dollars worth of data center infrastructure installations are rapidly transitioning from general-purpose to accelerated computing. As Moore's Law slows down and computing demand skyrockets, companies are accelerating all possible workloads to drive future improvements in performance, cost, and energy efficiency. At the same time, companies are building the next generation of modern data centers, what we call AI factories, specifically designed to refine raw data and generate value in the era of industrial intelligence.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, a legendary Chinese entrepreneur, has written his own brilliant chapter in the field of technology with his perseverance and outstanding intelligence. Despite being bullied and repressed in the United States as a child, he never gave up and turned these experiences into motivation to move forward.
Huang was born in Tainan and was sent to the United States by his parents to receive an education when he was 9 years old. However, he was bullied and suppressed by his classmates in a rural school, and was forced to clean the toilets of the whole school every day. This experience made him realize that only by becoming stronger can he earn respect.
With a keen interest and talent in computing, Huang earned a degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University at the age of 21 and a master's degree from Stanford University. He was keenly aware of the huge potential of the graphics chip market and was determined to make a name for himself in this field.
In the early days of the venture, Huang faced a huge challenge. His first two products failed due to deviations from mainstream technology, and the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. However, he did not give up, but persisted in R&D and eventually launched the world's first graphics processing unit (GPU), creating a miracle of selling 1 million units in 4 months on the market. This success not only brought Nvidia back to life, but also cemented Huang's status in the tech world.
With the popularity of Nvidia's products, Huang is keenly aware of the potential in the field of AI. At a time when many companies were abandoning AI projects, Huang saw an opportunity. He led the team to develop a series of hardware and software tools for use by AI researchers. This move allowed NVIDIA to emerge in the field of AI and laid a solid foundation for the company's future growth.
In recent years, with the rise of technologies such as the metaverse and ChatGPT, Huang has once again seized the opportunity. His chip products are in short supply, and even Musk lamented that "even dogs are grabbing them". Nvidia's market value soared by $180 billion overnight, and Huang's personal wealth also soared to more than $300 billion, becoming 10 times Jack Ma's net worth.
Although Nvidia has crossed the threshold of a trillion market capitalization, Huang is not satisfied with this. He is well aware of the increasingly fierce competition in the technology industry, and companies such as Intel and Google are increasing their layout in the GPU market. Therefore, he always maintained a sense of crisis and stressed that "we are only 30 days away from closure".
In an effort to solidify Nvidia's trillion-dollar market cap and further expand its market share, Huang has set his sights on the Chinese market. He believes that China is a very important market and that if it is deprived, it will cause huge losses to the company. According to NVIDIA's financial report, it will make a profit of $11.7 billion in the Chinese market in 2022, accounting for 47% of global revenue. As a result, Huang decided to invest more in the Chinese market and is interested in establishing a GPU R&D division in Beijing.
Huang's decision has been validated by the market. The biotech industry is one example. Harvard University has found that activating mitochondria, the "engine of life", can improve men's health and energy. Japanese biotech companies have been actively promoting the commercialization of relevant scientific research results, and have achieved significant growth after entering the Chinese market. This is a testament to Huang's judgment of the importance of the Chinese market.
As a tech mogul, Huang didn't choose to retire in comfort. On the contrary, he remains energetically engaged in the development of NVIDIA. He hopes to reach more small and medium-sized enterprises through cloud deployment and continue to expand the service market of AI computing power. Huang firmly believes, "There's nothing more fun than building an awesome company!" I can continue to work for another 30 to 40 years. ”
On March 19, 2024, NVIDIA will hold its annual AI conference and will also release a new generation of chips, B100. At present, the world's most powerful AI chip is the H200, which has a 60% to 90% increase in performance compared to the H100, and the performance of the B100 with the new architecture is said to be more than twice that of the H200. Well, H200 will only be shipped in the second quarter of this year, and before the goods are out, the company will reform its own life, and more powerful products will also come out.
Huang's story is a story of struggle. With his perseverance and outstanding intelligence, he has written his own brilliant chapter in the field of science and technology. His life experience tells us that no matter how difficult and challenging we face, as long as we have firm belief and unremitting efforts, we will be able to create our own success.
Jensen Huang