Watch a tech demo of the world's first consumer graphics processing unit, the Nvidia GeForce 256, released on October 11, 1999.

The term GPU was first used by Sony in 1994 to refer to the geometry processing unit inside the PlayStation console, five years before Nvidia's marketing of the GeForce 256 revised the acronym to graphics processing unit.

The history of graphics processing units began with hardware for displaying visuals in arcade machines, but the transition to 3D graphics led to the microchips and software that power today's AI data centers.

Take a virtual tour inside the NVIDIA GA102 graphics processing unit to explore the architecture that enables it to perform over 35 trillion calculations per second.

Nvidia pioneered the GPU industry via its origins as a video game company

From the mid-1990s to early 2000s, Nvidia carved out a niche as a maker of semiconductor chips specially designed for the video game industry. Nvidia broke through the competition to seal deals with TSMC and Microsoft, and popularized the term "graphics processing unit," aka GPU.

By 2024, Nvidia had become one of the world’s most valuable companies

Nvidia started as a graphics chip designer for PCs and consoles. This explainer traces its rise from early GPU innovation to powering AI breakthroughs and fueling the data centers behind today’s biggest tech platforms.

Explore graphics processing unit benchmarks for 2026, led in performance by Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5090, with AMD's Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB and Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5060 providing the best 1080p performance per dollar.

CUDA, the computing platform that transformed graphics processing units from pixel renderers into general-purpose components powering AI, originated from a computer science student.

CUDA was Nvidia’s first step into artificial intelligence

CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) is a parallel computing platform that was developed by Nvidia in the mid-2000s. By letting people perform computations in parallel, rather than sequentially, CUDA allowed people to compute large amounts of data quickly. CUDA has been used to build machine-learning models as well.

Nvidia was founded in a Denny's restaurant

Nvidia is one of a handful of companies valued at more than $1T. In its early days, the semiconductor company sold GPUs, or graphics processing units, that were used for video games. But in recent years, Nvidia's chips have been used for crypto and AI. Nvidia has faced several setbacks on its journey, including when the US sanctioned chip exports to China.

NVIDIA named several computer chip architectures after Grace Hopper

Unveiled in 2023, the GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip, designed for generative AI applications in data center-scale systems, combines a Grace CPU with a Hopper GPU to create a coherent memory model. This allows the Hopper to access Grace data directly, reducing the need to repeatedly copy data back and forth and vastly improving performance.

As of 2025, Nvidia controls over 90% of the discrete graphics processing unit market, with its high-end components serving as the backbone for the AI data center boom, followed by AMD and Intel.

Nvidia's rapid development of GPUs is forcing computing to depart from something called Moore's law

Moore’s law, named after Intel’s cofounder, predicts that the number of transistors on a chip will double every two years. But Nvidia could be outpacing that prediction.

Nvidia Omniverse can be used to accelerate 3D workflows and explore creative ideas

This video explores different apps available within Nvidia Omniverse that artists can use to create cinematic, virtual worlds. Some of the tools are AI-powered, like a feature that converts spoken audio into a video of a character speaking.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s keynotes have become a main event at CES

Watch Jensen Huang’s 2025 CES keynote, where he unveiled major advances in AI and GPU technology. His presentations now draw global attention, blending product reveals with sweeping visions of the future of computing.

Nvidia entered its AI era after learning that its chips could be used in industries beyond gaming

Its semiconductor chips were used in the automotive industry, for data centers, and by crypto miners. And starting in 2006, Nvidia took steps that would ultimately transform it into the AI company it's known as today. This podcast is the second part of a three-part series diving deep into Nvidia's company evolution.

Nvidia’s RTX graphics chips support ray tracing, which, the company says, can boost performance in games by 25%

Ray tracing allows developers to add more realistic-looking lighting and shadows to video games, and Nvidia continues to improve the tech in newer chips. Rendering light realistically in video games requires immense computing power, and ray tracing “cheats” the process with a little guesswork.

Graphics processing units, which process large amounts of data in parallel, have become the foundational hardware for AI systems that rely on hardware capable of processing millions of text parameters simultaneously.

Explore an emulated demo of Windows 95 Microsoft Plus!

The operating system went on sale on August 24, 1995, and was the first to feature the Start menu. Through this emulation, try your hand at Solitaire, 3D Pinball Space Cadet, and other classic Windows applications.

Some graphics processing units advertised under different product names, such as Nvidia's RTX 5070-Ti and RTX 5080, are identically manufactured microchips with different defect counts.

Nvidia controls more than four-fifths of the GPU market—but isn't considered a monopoly

Semiconductor company Nvidia has a commanding market share when it comes to graphics processing units. Its competitors include Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, which together account for less than a fifth of the GPU market.

Although GPU stands for graphics processing unit, the acronym is often used to refer to a graphics card—an assembly that houses the microchip along with supporting components.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang once saved Nvidia from bankruptcy with a multi-million dollar Hail Mary

Nvidia is now known as one of the top companies contributing to the AI boom, but back in the 1990s, it almost failed. One last-ditch effort conversation that CEO Jensen Huang had with an investor saved the company.

Nvidia's attempted Arm acquisition revealed its hopes of becoming the world's leading AI company

Though Nvidia's acquisition of Arm, another company that designs semiconductors, was ultimately quashed over antitrust concerns, the attempt offered insights into Nvidia's business strategy. Over time, Nvidia has increasingly focused on using its graphics cards to power machine learning, and its platform CUDA is dominant in the sector.

When buying a custom computer, selecting integrated graphics is more affordable, but a dedicated graphics card should be considered for CAD, video content creation, high-end gaming, and 3D modeling.

Atari's 'Pong', VCRs, and CD players all launched at CES

This roundup highlights major tech milestones at CES, including the launch of the Nintendo NES in 1985, the DVD in 1996, and the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift in 2013.

The world's first commercial biological computer combines neurons with silicon

Australian start-up Cortical Labs unveiled CL1, a hybrid chip designed to help scientists study brain function in real-time. The 800,000 lab-grown neurons on the chip are kept viable for six months via a built-in life support system.

Ten defining moments at CES through the years

Iconic CES devices like the Apple Newton, CD player, VHS VCR, Sony PlayStation, and Oculus Rift “Crystal Cove” didn’t necessarily seem groundbreaking at the time. Here's a list of some defining moments from the annual show.

Graphic processing units rely on a hierarchy of memory for optimization, where the smallest, fastest memory—registers—is located closest to the core and provides access to data in a fraction of a nanosecond.

Watch how graphics cards are fixed in a workshop by replacing faulty components, including graphics processing units and memory, located atop printed circuit boards.

With many smaller computing cores, graphics processing units process many identical tasks in parallel, whereas central processing units have fewer, larger cores built to handle a wide variety of more complex tasks sequentially.

Jensen Huang doesn't think Nvidia was a great company on day one

"Nvidia wasn't a great company on day one. We made it great over 31 years," explained businessman Jensen Huang on a recent podcast episode. He covered other principals and lessons he learned while building Nvidia in the epsiode too.

Rival companies AMD and Nvidia's CEOs are related

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia are two of the world's largest manufacturers of processing chips and are fierce competitors. AMD's CEO Lisa Su and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang are actually first cousins once removed, but reportedly don't share a close relationship and didn't even meet until later in life at an industry event.

Microsoft's initial successes came from promising products that did not yet exist

In discussions with teams responsible for MITS's Altair 8800 and IBM's PC, Bill Gates and Paul Allen claimed to have created ready-to-use software. Code for the former was not completed until Paul Allen's flight to MITS' headquarters, where the software was successfully tested for the first time.

Since 2025, AI data center growth has created shortages and price hikes in graphics processing units and their supporting hardware, including high-speed memory.

A 1992 failed parachute test provided the hardware for the first mixed reality system

The Virtual Fixtures platform was developed to improve human dexterity by merging physical and virtual objects with haptic feedback from an upper-body exoskeleton. Tight budgeting and significant equipment needs nearly canceled the project, were it not for salvaging and repairing cameras and sensors from a smashed experimental parachute rig.

See a gallery of the early years of CES

This gallery showcases rare photos from the early decades of CES, featuring early personal computers and the first handheld cassette players. See how the world’s biggest tech show began and grew.

Microsoft's Flight Simulator is one of history's longest-running software products

The program originated from a master’s thesis project on generating three-dimensional graphics, which was later combined with flight equations. The first version ran on the Apple II in early 1980, but its creator licensed the program to Microsoft two years later,

Tetris was launched in the US at Summer CES 1988

Tetris first appeared in the US at the 1988 Summer CES, where Henk Rogers—who would later publish and market the game—first encountered it. This interview revisits that moment, with creator Alexey Pajitnov and Rogers reflecting on how the game gained global recognition.

Neuralink brain implants have enabled a paralyzed person to play video games

As one of twelve test subjects in Neuralink's PRIME study, Rob Greiner's implant translates his brain's activity into digital commands for the 'Battlefield 6' game. He can now also design 3D models and 3D-print objects using his thoughts.

A virtual art gallery in the mode of 'Doom'

One of the earliest video games to use 3D interfaces, 1993's "Doom" was a first-person shooter set on the moons of Mars which ended in hell. It became one of the most critically and commercially successful games of all time. Now, you can wander virtually in an art gallery in the mode of the game, sipping wine and perusing pixelated versions of classic works of art.

Playing around with an AR sandbox

The white sand acts as a projector screen and a topographic map image is projected on the surface. An XBOX Kinect is positioned to read the contours of the sand and draw new topographic lines according to how the sand is moved.

Microsoft developed the Xbox to compete with Sony's all-in-one entertainment hardware

The video game console originated as a side project between four DirectX developers, from whom the console's original name, "DirectX Box," derives. These developers sought to counter Sony's PlayStation product line, which they saw as capable of capturing all entertainment markets by playing games, CDs, and DVDs.

Pixar's earliest days began with a handful of academics developing the technologies they thought might make fully animated movies possible.

Where did artful screen savers go? A history

Early on in the personal computer days, users and engineers realized screens could be damaged if the same image—of a button, a logo, or a navigation bar—stays static for too long. To preserve the screen, developers deployed screen savers—automatic reductions in the light intensity, or regularly changing patterns on the screen. These artful screen savers had a heyday in the 1990s, but have since lost popularity to the simple black screen. Read the history here.

Nintendo began in 1889 as a playing card company

As a leading video game publisher, Nintendo has contributed to expanding the prevalence of handheld and console technologies for over a century. It has also developed franchise mascots that have appeared in other media, including Mario and Sonic.

The design changed video games forever

Miyamoto’s direction and Kondo’s sound showed younger generations the potential of video games, inspiring a more sophisticated form that moved far beyond the one-dimensional entertainment of the arcade era.

X Games emerged during “extreme” marketing boom in the 1990s

Launched as the “Extreme Games” in 1995, the event tapped into a trend from the '90s of brands labeling products and events “extreme” to appeal to youth culture—mirroring marketing in soft drinks, snacks, and video games.

See the original websites for companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple

Explore archived images of homepages on websites dating all the way back to 1991.

View an illustrated history of Microsoft Solitaire

Included in Windows 3.0 in 1990, to help first-time computer users become familiar with using a mouse, the game featured a dozen unique card back designs. The Windows XP library of preinstalled games added Spider Solitaire, which became the most-played game on Windows PCs by 2005.

Play an incremental game that teaches the history of particle physics

Developed during the CERN Summer Student Webfest 2014, this game tasks you with building the reputation of your particle accelerator as you discover particles and hire staff to collect data. A historical breakdown accompanies each discovery, allowing you to recreate the timeline of the field.