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

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.7 • 31.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

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 giant
How researchers sparked the AI boom using NVIDIA gaming chips
How to lead through uncertainty when a huge bet hasn’t yet paid off
How Jensen approaches hard decisions like an engineer
We’re “doing ourselves a disservice” by being afraid: Jensen on AI and job loss
How Jensen defends his demanding management style
Why past failures still haunt him

Key Moments From the Interview:

00:07:51 — Jensen Huang’s childhood at an unusual Kentucky boarding school
00:14:50 — Why Jensen left a stable career to help start NVIDIA
00:17:14 — NVIDIA’s first failure: the NV1 disaster
00:19:51 — The desperate trip to Japan that gave the company a lifeline
00:23:11 — “The only idea we had” for prototyping: the emulator Hail Mary
00:30:53 — The book that shaped Jensen’s thinking about innovation
00:35:04 — Why NVIDIA kept investing in CUDA while Wall Street lost faith
00:41:38 — The moment AI researchers discovered the power of NVIDIA’s chips
00:53:17 — Jensen on fear of job loss from AI, and why America risks falling behind
01:01:56 — 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

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This podcast is brought to you by Squarespace. I talk to entrepreneurs all the time who are looking for a way to upgrade their digital footprint. Well, whether you're just starting out or you're scaling your business, Squarespace is the easiest way to build a great website that stands out. It's an all-in-one website platform that gives you everything you need to claim your domain, showcase your products,
0:21.6	and get paid.
0:22.9	Anyone can use Squarespace's cutting-edge design tools to build an online presence that truly
0:28.4	reflects what makes your business special.
0:30.9	There are templates, intuitive drag-and-drop editing, and even an AI-enhanced website
0:36.1	builder.
0:36.4	Then, Squarespace's built-in analytics tools help you make smarter business decisions.
0:42.0	Review website traffic, learn where to focus engagement, and track revenue all in one place.
0:48.3	Looking to grow your business, Squarespace even offers fast, easy business financing through
0:53.3	Squarespace capital. Go to Squarespace.com slash, easy business financing through Squarespace capital.
0:54.8	Go to Squarespace.com slash built for a free trial.
0:58.4	And when you're ready to launch, use offer code built to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
1:05.1	Loans issued by Celtic Bank and serviced by Stripe.
1:07.5	All loans subject to credit approval.
1:24.5	We've sort of have the outlines of all of the troughs, and there were a lot of troughs. And I'm trying to even imagine, like, quarterly earning calls in 2007, when your stock prices in the toilet, and you're putting all of this money.
1:31.3	And I tell you, it's embarrassing. It was embarrassing. It was humiliating. Your employees are probably embarrassed for you. In fact, you know, right now, it is really quite hard for me to resurface those feelings. And the reason for that is I spent all of my time, all of my life trying to forget yesterday.
1:50.0	Right.
1:50.9	What do they teach athletes?
1:52.6	Forget the last point.
1:53.7	Yeah.
1:55.2	It's about forgetting.
2:13.1	Welcome. Welcome to How I Built This, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 6 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Guy Raz | Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Guy Raz | Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.