{"id":105838,"date":"2026-05-25T14:03:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T10:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/?p=105838"},"modified":"2026-05-25T14:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T10:03:15","slug":"jensen-huang-on-the-real-cost-of-building-nvidia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/jensen-huang-on-the-real-cost-of-building-nvidia\/","title":{"rendered":"Jensen Huang on the Real Cost of Building Nvidia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jensen Huang<\/a> reflects on Nvidia\u2019s journey and the real cost of building the company, in comments shared with Business Insider on the \u201cHow I Built This\u201d podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jensen Huang, speaking on the \u201cHow I Built This\u201d podcast in comments shared with Business Insider, has offered a rare reflection on the emotional and financial strain behind building Nvidia into one of the world\u2019s most valuable semiconductor companies and a key driver of the AI era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that if he had known the full reality of the journey, he would not have started the company again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuppose I knew everything then that I now know, how hard it is and all of the pain and suffering and all the embarrassment and humiliation and all the setbacks,\u201d Jensen Huang said. \u201cThe answer, absolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Importantly, Nvidia was founded in 1993 and went public in 1999. Since then, it has grown into a central force in accelerated computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the path was far from smooth. In fact, Jensen Huang described multiple periods of severe pressure, financial instability, and public criticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the 2008 financial crisis, Nvidia shares reportedly fell by about 85 percent from their peak. At the same time, the company\u2019s long-term bets, especially on CUDA, faced skepticism from investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was embarrassing. It was humiliating,\u201d Jensen Huang said. \u201cYou\u2019re the only face that everybody hates. Your employees are probably embarrassed for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, Nvidia also faced early existential threats. In 1996, the company nearly collapsed after failing to deliver a graphics chip for Sega. However, a $5 million investment from Sega helped keep the company alive at a critical moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll be going out of business. You\u2019ll have to lay people off,\u201d Jensen Huang said, describing the harsh reality of startup survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Nvidia<\/a> went through failed chip programs, layoffs, and repeated uncertainty about its long-term direction. Still, the company continued investing in its core vision for accelerated computing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a personal level, Jensen Huang also acknowledged the sacrifices involved. He missed several family milestones while building the company under intense pressure. He credited his wife for managing most of the family responsibilities during those years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI missed a lot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, he also shared how he coped with setbacks. He focused on moving forward rather than dwelling on past failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI spent all my time forgetting yesterday,\u201d Jensen Huang said. \u201cWhat do they teach athletes? Forget the last point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Nvidia<\/a> stands at the center of the global AI transformation, powering industries across computing, machine learning, and advanced infrastructure. Still, Jensen Huang\u2019s reflections, as shared with Business Insider, highlight that the company\u2019s success was shaped by decades of pressure, uncertainty, and persistence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, Jensen Huang\u2019s story reinforces that even the most successful technology journeys come with a cost, and Jensen Huang remains one of the defining figures of the AI era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jensen Huang reflects on Nvidia\u2019s journey and the real cost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":105840,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9617],"tags":[1923,10527],"contributor":[],"class_list":["post-105838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-nvidia","tag-nvidia-jensen-huang"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/NVIDIA.jpg.jpeg","author_info":{"display_name":"Rabab","author_link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/author\/rabab\/"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105838"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105839,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105838\/revisions\/105839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105838"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=105838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}