Taiwan's Jensen Huang Obsession
The rise of Nvidia has made its boss, Jensen Huang, a superstar in his native
Taiwan. Bloomberg tech reporter Debby Wu and her team tell us about the rampant
speculation about his presence at (or absence from) the Semicon trade show next
week. Plus: the big bucks in little leagues.
It's become something of a ritual at big tech events in Taiwan these days: guessing whether Jensen will show up.
For the uninitiated, that's Jensen Huang, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., the chipmaker that for a brief moment became the globe's most valuable company, based on the dominance of its semiconductors among fast-growing artificial intelligence businesses.
At Computex in May, the Taiwanese press showered readers with oceans of ink speculating about the intentions of the island's most successful native son. In the end, the centibillionaire arrived in his trademark black leather jacket to a reception fit for a rock star. If you wanted to know where he was, you simply had to look for the TV cameras and mobs of cheering fans crowding around him.
Over the past month, the focus has been on Semicon Taiwan, an annual chipmaking-industry conclave. Newspapers and tech websites are again in a frenzy of speculation, and managers at other companies haven't been shy about asking Bloomberg reporters whether they know if Huang will stop by—highlighting the growing importance of Nvidia and, by extension, Taiwan's role at the center of the AI universe.
Whether or not Huang shows up, Semicon will offer plenty of insights into the future of AI and the broader chip business. Some 200 big shots from leading companies say they'll attend. And notably, senior executives from both SK hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. will deliver speeches—the first time the two South Korean chipmakers have had such a high-level presence at the show. While Samsung remains the world's top supplier of traditional memory, it has fallen behind SK hynix in providing Huang's company with the kind needed for AI.
Before Nvidia's surge, few would have imagined that the South Koreans would have received such a warm welcome in Taiwan. The two lands have long been rivals in everything from baseball to chipmaking. In particular, there was a bitter competition a decade ago between Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to make iPhone processors.
Huang in Taipei on June 2. Photographer: Annabelle Chih/Bloomberg
But with the rise of AI, memory producers must work with TSMC, which has become Nvidia's go-to manufacturer. So companies from South Korea and Taiwan have no choice but to cooperate to ensure the world gets enough Nvidia chips to build AI chatbots and other newfangled apps.
As for Huang, Nvidia is mum on the subject of his whereabouts, with the PR team saying they can't disclose his travel plans. If he does show up, Terry Tsao, president of the group organizing the event, jokes that he fears the Jensen frenzy will steal attention from other worthy attendees. "We try not to invite him," he says, not entirely tongue in cheek.
It's become something of a ritual at big tech events in Taiwan these days: guessing whether Jensen will show up.
For the uninitiated, that's Jensen Huang, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., the chipmaker that for a brief moment became the globe's most valuable company, based on the dominance of its semiconductors among fast-growing artificial intelligence businesses.
At Computex in May, the Taiwanese press showered readers with oceans of ink speculating about the intentions of the island's most successful native son. In the end, the centibillionaire arrived in his trademark black leather jacket to a reception fit for a rock star. If you wanted to know where he was, you simply had to look for the TV cameras and mobs of cheering fans crowding around him.
Over the past month, the focus has been on Semicon Taiwan, an annual chipmaking-industry conclave. Newspapers and tech websites are again in a frenzy of speculation, and managers at other companies haven't been shy about asking Bloomberg reporters whether they know if Huang will stop by—highlighting the growing importance of Nvidia and, by extension, Taiwan's role at the center of the AI universe.
Whether or not Huang shows up, Semicon will offer plenty of insights into the future of AI and the broader chip business. Some 200 big shots from leading companies say they'll attend. And notably, senior executives from both SK hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. will deliver speeches—the first time the two South Korean chipmakers have had such a high-level presence at the show. While Samsung remains the world's top supplier of traditional memory, it has fallen behind SK hynix in providing Huang's company with the kind needed for AI.
Before Nvidia's surge, few would have imagined that the South Koreans would have received such a warm welcome in Taiwan. The two lands have long been rivals in everything from baseball to chipmaking. In particular, there was a bitter competition a decade ago between Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to make iPhone processors.
Huang in Taipei on June 2. Photographer: Annabelle Chih/Bloomberg
But with the rise of AI, memory producers must work with TSMC, which has become Nvidia's go-to manufacturer. So companies from South Korea and Taiwan have no choice but to cooperate to ensure the world gets enough Nvidia chips to build AI chatbots and other newfangled apps.
As for Huang, Nvidia is mum on the subject of his whereabouts, with the PR team saying they can't disclose his travel plans. If he does show up, Terry Tsao, president of the group organizing the event, jokes that he fears the Jensen frenzy will steal attention from other worthy attendees. "We try not to invite him," he says, not entirely tongue in cheek.
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