Jensen Huang: Compute Limits Push Chinese AI Companies to Innovate

In an interview with Lex Fridman, Jensen Huang recalled how Nvidia's partnership with TSMC began. He said that in 1996, after failing to get responses from other foundries, he found TSMC's U.S. office number in the Yellow Pages and left several voicemails without receiving a call back. He eventually wrote a long letter to Morris Chang, TSMC's founder, and one evening the phone rang: "This is Morris Chang from TSMC." Huang said he was thrilled that the founder himself called back.

Explaining why Nvidia chose TSMC over rival UMC, Huang said Morris Chang was willing to tell him clearly, "We can't do this." That honesty about business boundaries and commitment to integrity and long-term partnerships impressed him. "You're not choosing what to buy, but who you build with," Huang said, describing the thirty-year relationship.

Huang also commented on Chinese AI companies he and Fridman discussed. He said they face severe computing power constraints, which are forcing them to design highly efficient architectures. "The constraints are very, very significant," he said, noting that these companies are still raising funds and pushing their businesses forward. He added that scarcity is the mother of invention.

Beyond business, Huang admitted he still gets nervous before every public speech. He also expressed affection for gamers, saying Nvidia started there. He mentioned that if Nvidia is to make and sell trillions of dollars worth of computing equipment in the coming years, Taiwan's entire tech ecosystem will need to participate, with each company investing hundreds of billions of dollars.