History of Nvidia in Timeline
Nvidia Corporation, founded in 1993, is a multinational technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Primarily a software company, Nvidia designs and supplies graphics processing units (GPUs), application programming interfaces (APIs) for data science and high-performance computing, and system on a chip units (SoCs) for mobile computing and the automotive market. Notably, Nvidia is a leading supplier of both artificial intelligence (AI) hardware and software. The company outsources the manufacturing of the hardware it designs.
April 5, 1993: Nvidia Officially Founded
On April 5, 1993, Nvidia was officially founded by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem, marking the beginning of the company's journey in graphics and technology.
1993: Nvidia Founded
In 1993, Nvidia was founded by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem in Santa Clara, California, initially focusing on designing GPUs and other technologies.
1993: Vision for Graphics Processing
In 1993, Nvidia's co-founders envisioned graphics-based processing as the best way to solve complex computing challenges, identifying video games as a key application. The company was founded with $40,000 and later received $20 million in venture capital.
1996: Nvidia Restructures and Focuses on RIVA 128
In 1996, Huang laid off more than half of Nvidia's employees, reducing headcount from 100 to 40, and focused resources on developing the RIVA 128 graphics accelerator optimized for processing triangle primitives.
August 1997: Release of the RIVA 128
In August 1997, Nvidia released the RIVA 128. At the time Nvidia had only enough money left for one month's payroll.
1998: Release of the RIVA TNT
In 1998, Nvidia released the RIVA TNT, helping to solidify Nvidia’s reputation as a leader in graphics technology.
January 22, 1999: Nvidia Goes Public
On January 22, 1999, Nvidia went public, marking a significant milestone in the company's history.
1999: Release of GeForce 256
In late 1999, Nvidia released the GeForce 256, its first product expressly marketed as a GPU, introducing onboard transformation and lighting to consumer-level 3D hardware.
December 2000: Nvidia to Acquire 3dfx Intellectual Assets
In December 2000, Nvidia reached an agreement to acquire the intellectual assets of 3dfx, a pioneer in consumer 3D graphics technology.
2000: Sega Sells Nvidia Stock
After Irimajiri left Sega in 2000, Sega sold its Nvidia stock for $15 million.
April 2002: Nvidia Finalizes Acquisition of 3dfx
In April 2002, Nvidia finalized the acquisition of the intellectual assets of its one-time rival, 3dfx.
July 2002: Nvidia Acquires Exluna
In July 2002, Nvidia acquired Exluna, a software-rendering tools company, for an undisclosed sum. Exluna's personnel were integrated into the Cg project.
August 2003: Nvidia Acquires MediaQ
In August 2003, Nvidia acquired MediaQ for approximately US$70 million, and launched GoForce the following year.
April 22, 2004: Nvidia Acquires iReady
On April 22, 2004, Nvidia acquired iReady, a provider of high-performance TCP offload engines and iSCSI controllers.
December 2004: Nvidia to Assist Sony with PlayStation 3 Graphics
In December 2004, Nvidia announced that it would assist Sony with the design of the graphics processor (RSX) for the PlayStation 3 game console.
December 14, 2005: Nvidia Acquires ULI Electronics
On December 14, 2005, Nvidia acquired ULI Electronics, which at the time supplied third-party southbridge parts for chipsets to ATI, Nvidia's competitor.
March 2006: Nvidia Acquires Hybrid Graphics
In March 2006, Nvidia acquired Hybrid Graphics, expanding its capabilities in graphics technology.
December 2006: Nvidia Faces Antitrust Subpoenas
In December 2006, Nvidia, along with its main rival AMD (which had acquired ATI), received subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding possible antitrust violations in the graphics card industry.
January 5, 2007: Nvidia Acquires PortalPlayer, Inc.
On January 5, 2007, Nvidia announced that it had completed the acquisition of PortalPlayer, Inc., expanding its technology portfolio.
February 2008: Nvidia Acquires Ageia
In February 2008, Nvidia acquired Ageia, the developer of PhysX, a physics engine and physics processing unit, with plans to integrate PhysX technology into its future GPU products.
July 2008: Nvidia Takes Write-Down Due to Chipset Defects
In July 2008, Nvidia took a write-down of approximately $200 million on its first-quarter revenue, after reporting that certain mobile chipsets and GPUs had "abnormal failure rates" due to manufacturing defects.
September 2008: Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Nvidia
In September 2008, Nvidia became the subject of a class action lawsuit over GPU defects in certain laptop models manufactured by Apple, Dell, and HP.
2009: Nvidia involved in deep learning "big bang"
In 2009, Nvidia was involved in what was called the "big bang" of deep learning, as deep-learning neural networks were combined with Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs).
September 2010: Nvidia Settles Class Action Lawsuit
In September 2010, Nvidia reached a settlement in the class action lawsuit, agreeing to reimburse owners of affected laptops for repairs or replacements.
January 10, 2011: Nvidia and Intel Sign Cross-Licensing Agreement
On January 10, 2011, Nvidia signed a six-year, $1.5 billion cross-licensing agreement with Intel, ending all litigation between the two companies.
May 2011: Nvidia to Acquire Icera
In May 2011, it was announced that Nvidia had agreed to acquire Icera, a baseband chip making company in the UK, for $367 million.
November 2011: Nvidia Releases Tegra 3
In November 2011, Nvidia released its ARM-based system on a chip for mobile devices, Tegra 3, claiming it featured the first-ever quad-core mobile CPU.
2012: Linus Torvalds criticizes Nvidia
In 2012, Linus Torvalds criticized Nvidia's approach towards Linux, expressing dissatisfaction with the proprietary nature of Nvidia's drivers.
January 2013: Nvidia Unveils Tegra 4 and Nvidia Shield
In January 2013, Nvidia unveiled the Tegra 4, as well as the Nvidia Shield, an Android-based handheld game console powered by the new system on a chip.
February 2013: Nvidia Announces New Headquarters Plans
In February 2013, Nvidia announced its plans to build a new headquarters in the form of two giant triangle-shaped buildings, reflecting the importance of triangles in computer graphics.
July 29, 2013: Nvidia Acquires PGI from STMicroelectronics
On July 29, 2013, Nvidia announced that they acquired PGI from STMicroelectronics, further expanding its technology portfolio.
September 23, 2013: Nvidia publishes advanced hardware documentation
Until September 23, 2013, Nvidia had not published any documentation for its advanced hardware, preventing programmers from writing open-source drivers without reverse engineering.
November 6, 2014: Nvidia Prevails in 3dfx Acquisition Litigation
On November 6, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed that Nvidia did not pay less than fair market value for assets purchased from 3dfx shortly before 3dfx filed for bankruptcy.
2014: Nvidia requires firmware for Maxwell GPUs
In 2014, with Maxwell GPUs, Nvidia started requiring firmware to unlock all features of its graphics cards.
2014: Nvidia Diversifies Business
Since 2014, Nvidia has diversified its business focusing on three markets: gaming, automotive electronics, and mobile devices. That same year, Nvidia ported the Valve games Portal and Half Life 2 to its Nvidia Shield tablet as Lightspeed Studio.
February 2015: Class-action lawsuit filed against Nvidia
In February 2015, a class-action lawsuit alleging false advertising was filed against Nvidia and Gigabyte Technology in the U.S. District Court for Northern California.
February 26, 2015: Nvidia CEO apologizes for GTX 970 incident
On February 26, 2015, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang apologized for the GTX 970 incident in Nvidia's official blog.
April 2016: Nvidia produces the DGX-1
In April 2016, Nvidia produced the DGX-1 based on an 8 GPU cluster, to improve the ability of users to use deep learning by combining GPUs with integrated deep learning software.
May 6, 2016: Nvidia Unveils GeForce 10 Series GPUs
On May 6, 2016, Nvidia unveiled the first GPUs of the GeForce 10 series, the GTX 1080 and 1070, based on the company's new Pascal microarchitecture.
July 2016: Nvidia Settles GTX 970 False Advertising Lawsuit
In July 2016, Nvidia agreed to a settlement for a false advertising lawsuit regarding its GTX 970 model, as the models were unable to use all of their advertised 4 GB of VRAM due to hardware design limitations.
July 27, 2016: Nvidia agrees to preliminary settlement in GTX 970 lawsuit
On July 27, 2016, Nvidia agreed to a preliminary settlement of the U.S. class action lawsuit, offering a $30 refund on GTX 970 purchases.
August 2016: Nvidia gifts DGX-1 to OpenAI
In August 2016, Nvidia gifted its first DGX-1 to OpenAI to help it train larger and more complex AI models.
November 2016: Google Cloud installs Nvidia Tesla GPU-based virtual machines
In November 2016, Google Cloud installed Nvidia Tesla K80 and P100 GPU-based virtual machines.
May 2017: Nvidia Partners with Toyota for Autonomous Vehicles
In May 2017, Nvidia announced a partnership with Toyota to use Nvidia's Drive PX-series artificial intelligence platform for its autonomous vehicles.
May 2017: Nvidia's Inception Program reaches 1,300 companies
In May 2017, Nvidia's Inception Program had 1,300 companies.
July 2017: Nvidia and Baidu Announce AI Partnership
In July 2017, Nvidia and Chinese search giant Baidu announced a far-reaching AI partnership that includes cloud computing, autonomous driving, consumer devices, and Baidu's open-source AI framework PaddlePaddle.
December 7, 2017: Nvidia Releases Titan V
On December 7, 2017, Nvidia officially released the Titan V, marking another advancement in its GPU technology.
2017: Nvidia's deep learning technology boosts earnings
In 2017, Nvidia's deep learning technology led to a boost in its earnings.
March 1, 2018: Product announced
On March 1, 2018, Nvidia announced a new product.
March 2018: Nvidia's Inception Program reaches 2,800 startups
As of March 2018, there were 2,800 startups in the Nvidia Inception Program.
March 27, 2018: Nvidia Releases Quadro GV100
On March 27, 2018, Nvidia officially released the Nvidia Quadro GV100.
May 4, 2018: Product cancellation
On May 4, 2018, Nvidia cancelled the product that was announced earlier.
May 2018: Nvidia web drivers request for macOS Mojave
In May 2018, a thread was started on the Nvidia user forum requesting the company to update users on the release of web drivers for Nvidia cards installed on legacy Mac Pro machines running macOS Mojave 10.14, to enable graphics acceleration.
May 2018: Nvidia researchers realize possibility of robots learning by observation
In May 2018, researchers at the artificial intelligence department of Nvidia realized the possibility that a robot can learn to perform a job simply by observing the person doing the same job.
September 27, 2018: Nvidia Releases RTX 2080 GPUs
On September 27, 2018, Nvidia officially released the RTX 2080 GPUs.
January 2019: Apple Insider claims Apple doesn't want Nvidia support in macOS
In January 2019, Apple Insider weighed into the controversy surrounding the lack of web drivers for Nvidia cards on macOS, claiming that Apple management "doesn't want Nvidia support in macOS".
March 11, 2019: Nvidia to Acquire Mellanox Technologies
On March 11, 2019, Nvidia announced a deal to buy Mellanox Technologies for $6.9 billion, aimed at expanding its presence in the high-performance computing market.
May 2019: Nvidia Announces New RTX Studio Laptops
In May 2019, Nvidia announced new RTX Studio laptops, claiming they would be significantly faster than a top-end MacBook Pro in applications like Maya and RedCine-X Pro.
August 2019: Nvidia Announces Minecraft RTX
In August 2019, Nvidia announced Minecraft RTX, an official Nvidia-developed patch for the game Minecraft that added real-time DXR ray tracing exclusively to the Windows 10 version.
2019: Tesla stops using Nvidia hardware
In 2019, Musk announced at Tesla Autonomy Day that Tesla developed its own SoC and full self-driving computer and would stop using Nvidia hardware for their vehicles.
May 14, 2020: Nvidia Announces Ampere GPU Microarchitecture
On May 14, 2020, Nvidia officially announced their Ampere GPU microarchitecture and the Nvidia A100 GPU accelerator.
May 2020: Nvidia Acquires Cumulus Networks
In May 2020, Nvidia announced it was acquiring Cumulus Networks, later absorbing the company into Nvidia's networking business unit along with Mellanox.
May 2020: Nvidia Develops Open-Source Ventilator
In May 2020, Nvidia developed an open-source ventilator to address the shortage resulting from the global coronavirus pandemic.
July 2020: Nvidia in Talks to Buy Arm
In July 2020, it was reported that Nvidia was in talks with SoftBank to buy Arm, a UK-based chip designer, for $32 billion.
September 1, 2020: Nvidia Announces GeForce 30 Series
On September 1, 2020, Nvidia officially announced the GeForce 30 series, which is based on the company's new Ampere microarchitecture.
September 13, 2020: Nvidia Announces Intent to Acquire Arm
On September 13, 2020, Nvidia announced that they would buy Arm from SoftBank Group for $40 billion, subject to scrutiny, with SoftBank retaining a 10% share of Nvidia.
September 2020: Nvidia's Attempt to Acquire Arm
In September 2020, Nvidia's attempt to acquire Arm from SoftBank was initiated but later faced regulatory scrutiny, ultimately leading to the deal's termination.
October 2020: Nvidia Retires Quadro Brand
Also in October 2020, Nvidia announced it was retiring its workstation GPU brand Quadro, shifting its product name to Nvidia RTX for future products and the manufacturing to be Nvidia Ampere architecture-based.
October 2020: Nvidia Plans to Build Cambridge-1 Supercomputer
In October 2020, Nvidia announced its plan to build the most powerful computer in Cambridge, England, called Cambridge-1, to support healthcare research.
December 10, 2020: Nvidia bans Hardware Unboxed from receiving review samples
On December 10, 2020, Nvidia told YouTube tech reviewer Steven Walton of Hardware Unboxed that it would no longer supply him with GeForce Founders Edition graphics card review units.
2020: Nvidia unveils Omniverse
In 2020, Nvidia unveiled "Omniverse", a virtual environment designed for engineers.
January 2021: Nvidia's Market Capitalization Valued at Over US$328.7 Billion
In January 2021, Nvidia's shares traded at over $531 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$328.7 billion.
July 2021: Launch of Cambridge-1 Supercomputer
In July 2021, the Cambridge-1 supercomputer launched with a $100 million investment, employing AI to support healthcare research.
August 2021: Nvidia's Inception Program surpasses 8,500 members
As of August 2021, the Nvidia Inception Program has surpassed 8,500 members in 90 countries, with cumulative funding of US$60 billion.
August 2021: UK Investigates Nvidia's Takeover of Arm
In August 2021, the proposed takeover of Arm was stalled after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority raised "significant competition concerns".
October 2021: European Commission Opens Competition Investigation Into Nvidia's Takeover of Arm
In October 2021, the European Commission opened a competition investigation into Nvidia's takeover of Arm.
February 2022: Arm Acquisition Deal Terminated
In February 2022, Nvidia's acquisition deal with Arm was terminated due to extended regulatory scrutiny. This would have been the largest semiconductor acquisition to date.
February 2022: Nvidia and SoftBank Abandon Arm Acquisition
In early February 2022, SoftBank and Nvidia announced that they "had agreed not to move forward with the transaction 'because of significant regulatory challenges'" regarding the acquisition of ARM.
March 2022: Nvidia Open to Intel Manufacturing Chips
In March 2022, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang mentioned that they are open to having Intel manufacture their chips in the future.
April 2022: Nvidia Plans to Open Research Center in Armenia
In April 2022, it was reported that Nvidia planned to open a new research center in Yerevan, Armenia.
May 12, 2022: Nvidia announces opensourcing of GPU kernel modules
On May 12, 2022, Nvidia announced that they are opensourcing their GPU kernel modules.
May 2022: Nvidia settles SEC charges related to crypto mining disclosures
In May 2022, Nvidia agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle civil charges by the SEC for failing to disclose the impact of cryptomining on its business.
May 2022: Nvidia Opens Voyager Building
In May 2022, Nvidia opened Voyager, the second of the two giant buildings at its new headquarters complex.
September 2022: Nvidia Announces Collaboration with Broad Institute
In September 2022, Nvidia announced a collaboration with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard related to Nvidia's AI-powered healthcare software suite called Clara.
September 2022: Nvidia Announces Drive Thor
In September 2022, Nvidia announced its next-generation automotive-grade chip, Drive Thor.
October 2022: Nvidia Data Center Chip Added to Export Control List
Following U.S. Department of Commerce regulations, in October 2022, Nvidia saw its data center chip added to the export control list, restricting exports to China of advanced microchips.
May 2023: Nvidia crosses $1 trillion in market valuation
In May 2023, Nvidia's market valuation crossed $1 trillion during trading hours, and grew to $1.2 trillion by November.
September 2023: Getty Images Partners with Nvidia to Launch Generative AI Tool
In September 2023, Getty Images announced a partnership with Nvidia to launch Generative AI by Getty Images, a new tool that lets people create images using Getty's library of licensed photos.
September 26, 2023: Nvidia Founding Anniversary Celebration at Denny's
On September 26, 2023, Denny's CEO Kelli Valade joined Huang in East San Jose to celebrate the founding of Nvidia at Denny's, where a plaque was installed at the corner booth, marking the birthplace of a $1 trillion company.
October 2023: Nvidia Designing ARM-Based CPUs for Windows
In October 2023, it was reported that Nvidia had quietly begun designing ARM-based central processing units (CPUs) for Microsoft's Windows operating system.
2023: Nvidia's Valuation Exceeds $1 Trillion
In 2023, Nvidia's valuation increased rapidly amid growing demand for data center chips with AI capabilities, making it the seventh public U.S. company to be valued at over $1 trillion.
2023: Nvidia Dominates Discrete GPU Market
In the second quarter of 2023, Nvidia held a market share of 80.2%, leading global sales of discrete desktop GPUs. The company also expanded its presence in the gaming industry with its Shield line and GeForce Now cloud gaming service.
January 2024: Nvidia H100 GPU Prices
As of January 2024, Raymond James Financial analysts estimated that Nvidia was selling the H100 GPU in the price range of $25,000 to $30,000 each, while on eBay, individual H100s cost over $40,000.
January 2024: Nvidia Increases Lobbying Presence in Washington, D.C.
In January 2024, Forbes reported that Nvidia has increased its lobbying presence in Washington, D.C. as American lawmakers consider proposals to regulate artificial intelligence.
February 2024: Nvidia as "Hot Employer" in Silicon Valley
In February 2024, it was reported that Nvidia was the "hot employer" in Silicon Valley because it was offering interesting work and good pay at a time when other tech employers were downsizing.
March 1, 2024: Nvidia Reaches $2 Trillion Market Cap
On March 1, 2024, Nvidia became the third company in the history of the United States to close with a market capitalization in excess of $2 trillion.
March 2024: GTC returns to in-person format
After several years of remote-only events, the GPU Technology Conference (GTC) returned to an in-person format in San Jose, California in March 2024.
June 2024: Nvidia Briefly Becomes World's Most Valuable Company
In June 2024, Nvidia briefly overtook Microsoft to become the world's most valuable publicly traded company, with a market capitalization exceeding $3.3 trillion.
June 2024: Trend Micro Partners with Nvidia
In June 2024, Trend Micro announced a partnership with Nvidia to develop AI-driven security tools, notably to protect the data centers where AI workloads are processed.
June 2024: FTC and DOJ Begin Antitrust Investigations into Nvidia
In June 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Justice Department (DOJ) began antitrust investigations into Nvidia, focusing on their influence in the AI industry.
October 2024: Nvidia Introduces NVLM 1.0
In October 2024, Nvidia introduced a family of open-source multimodal large language models called NVLM 1.0, which features a flagship version with 72 billion parameters, designed to improve text-only performance after multimodal training.
November 2024: Nvidia Invests in Nebius Group
Also in November 2024, the company made an investment in Nebius Group.
November 2024: Nvidia's 2025 Blackwell Chip Production Sold Out
In November 2024, Morgan Stanley reported that "the entire 2025 production" of all of Nvidia's Blackwell chips was "already sold out".
November 2024: Nvidia Added to Dow Jones Industrial Average
In November 2024, the company was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
2024: Huang orients Nvidia's focus
In 2024, Huang oriented Nvidia's focus towards humanoid robots and self-driving cars, which he expects to gain widespread adoption.
2024: Nvidia Ranked #3 on Forbes' "Best Places to Work" List
In 2024, Nvidia was ranked #3 on Forbes' "Best Places to Work" list.
2024: Nvidia's largest shareholders
In early 2024, the list of Nvidia's 10 largest shareholders was tracked.
January 2025: Nvidia Faces Largest One-Day Loss in Market Capitalization
In January 2025, Nvidia faced the largest one-day loss in market capitalization for a U.S. company in history at $600 billion.
