Redakcja Choose TV
Today, CUDA is one of the most important elements of NVIDIA's success in the world of AI, but few remember how risky that decision was at the beginning. The company bet everything on the development of a technology that for years did not bring any profits. Costs were rising, margins were falling, and the future was uncertain. Despite this, NVIDIA did not back down from the project and consistently developed its approach to GPU as a computing platform. Now it is clear that this was one of the most important moves in the industry's history.
CUDA could have sunk the company
NVIDIA introduced CUDA in 2006 as a way to expand the capabilities of graphics cards beyond gaming. The problem was that it was a decision that significantly increased costs, with no guarantee of return. As Jensen Huang admitted, the company raised costs by as much as 50%, and its market value fell to around 1.5 billion dollars. At that moment, it was a move balancing on the edge of survival.
The aim was to transform graphics cards into tools for general computing. With technologies such as programmable shaders and support for FP32 computations, GPUs began to be used in entirely new areas. This opened the door for scientists and engineers who started using GPUs for tasks that required enormous computational power. GeForce cards played a key role, reaching millions of users. It was they who caused CUDA to start spreading and building an ecosystem. As Jensen Huang emphasises, it was GeForce that “built the home” on which all of NVIDIA stands today.
The effects came only after years
What is most interesting is that CUDA started to bring real benefits only after about 10 years from its introduction. This shows the long-term strategy adopted by the company. Today, CUDA is one of the main reasons why NVIDIA dominates the AI and high-performance computing market. The story of CUDA is an example of a decision that could have ended in disaster, but ultimately changed the entire industry. NVIDIA transformed from a company mainly associated with gaming into a leader in the world of artificial intelligence.
source: wccftech.com
