[One Thousand Characters a Day] Apple Nvidia Shockwave <3>

Editor's NoteNVIDIA is the most spotlighted company with the advent of generative AI. This is because NVIDIA's GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is an essential infrastructure for running AI. NVIDIA, which grew from a graphics card for gaming 30 years ago, declared a sudden transformation into an AI company in 2012 and has grown at a rapid pace in just over a decade. This was thanks to their intuition that deep learning would bring innovation and their significant bet on the AI semiconductor market. At that time, there was no dedicated semiconductor market for AI. CEO Jensen Huang boldly challenged the market, which was expected to grow to 'trillions of won' in the future. The competitiveness of AI computing depends not only on the performance of individual chips but more importantly on how these chips are efficiently and harmoniously connected to enhance the overall system performance. NVIDIA has full-stack competitiveness including chips, software, and networks for AI computing. Word count: 1025 characters.

The relationship between NVIDIA and TSMC, Jensen Huang and Morris Chang is tied by the commonality of Taiwan and semiconductors.

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When Morris Chang was inducted into the 'Stanford Engineer Hall of Fame' in 2014, Jensen Huang said this:

"There are countless successful people in the world, but true heroes are rare. There is a difference between success and influence. Morris Chang is a perfect case study for researching the industrial revolution."

There was good reason for Huang to praise Chang. Thanks to Chang's full support, Huang was able to realize NVIDIA's vision.

Chang did not merely act as a chip manufacturer commissioned by Huang. As a senior figure in the semiconductor industry, he also played a mentor role. Huang recalls his first meeting with Chang as follows:

"When I first met Chang, I was in my 30s. Chang told me about the importance of corporate governance and integrity. This was based on his experience at TSMC. According to his advice, trust was the most fundamental and essential boundary in technology."

There is another anecdote that shows the relationship between Chang and Huang. When NVIDIA started its business in 1993, TSMC already existed. However, NVIDIA entrusted chip production to a place other than TSMC.

Huang remembers when Chang unexpectedly appeared at his office. In a 2007 conversation with Chang held at the Computer History Museum, Huang recalled a Friday afternoon when he received a call from TSMC asking if they could visit.

Huang naturally thought one of the TSMC salespeople would come. But the person who came to meet Huang was someone completely different. It was Chang. Chang visited NVIDIA alone without any entourage. At that time, TSMC was rapidly growing, having listed its shares in the U.S. following Taiwan. Although NVIDIA and TSMC were companies of different scales, Chang went to meet Huang alone without hesitation.

At that meeting, Chang carefully asked Huang about the business and how many wafers were needed, taking notes meticulously. Huang was so impressed by Chang's seriousness that he even double-checked the numbers he had mentioned.

Huang later learned that Chang had taken time to visit NVIDIA during his honeymoon.

－Baek Jongmin, Apple NVIDIA Shockwave, Sejong Books, 23,000 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.