The Thinking Machine - by Stephen Witt (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The riveting investigative account of Nvidia, the tech company that has exploded in value for its artificial intelligence computing hardware, and Jensen Huang, Nvidia's charismatic, uncompromising CEO In June of 2024, spurred by the frenzy of investment following the launch of ChatGPT, and thirty-one years after its founding in a Denny's restaurant, Nvidia became the most-valuable corporation on Earth. In The Thinking Machine, acclaimed journalist Stephen Witt recounts the unlikely story of how a manufacturer of video game components shocked Silicon Valley by conquering the market for AI hardware, and in the process re-invented the computer. Essential to Nvidia's meteoric success is its visionary CEO Jensen Huang, who more than a decade ago, on the basis of a few promising scientific results, bet his entire company on AI. Through unprecedented access to Huang, his friends, his investors, and his employees, Witt documents for the first time the company's epic rise and its iconoclastic CEO, who emerges as a compelling, single-minded, and ferocious leader, and now one of Silicon Valley's most influential figures. The Thinking Machine is the story of how Nvidia evolved from providing components for circuit boards to supplying hundred-million dollar supercomputers. It is the story of a determined entrepreneur who defied Wall Street to push his radical vision for computing, in the process becoming one of the wealthiest men alive. It is the story of a revolution in computer architecture, and the small group of renegade engineers who made it happen. And it's the story of our awesome and terrifying AI future, which Huang has billed as the "next industrial revolution," as a new kind of microchip unlocks hyper-realistic avatars, autonomous robots, self-driving cars, and new movies, art, and books, generated on command"--

Book Synopsis

"A lively biography. . . . The story of how Nvidia became the hottest investment on Wall Street and a household name is fascinating." --Katie Notopoulos, The New York Times Book Review

"Framed as a biography of Jensen Huang, the only CEO Nvidia has ever had, the book is also something more interesting and revealing: a window onto the intellectual, cultural, and economic ecosystem that has led to the emergence of superpowerful AI."
--James Surowiecki, The Atlantic

"Stephen Witt's deep reporting shines through every page of The Thinking Machine. The result is a page-turning biography of perhaps the most consequential CEO and company in the world." --David Epstein, New York Times bestselling author of Range

Nvidia is as valuable as Apple and Microsoft. It has shaped the world as we know it. But its story is little known. This is the definitive story of the greatest technology company of our times.

In June of 2024, thirty-one years after its founding in a Denny's restaurant, Nvidia became the most valuable corporation on Earth. The Thinking Machine is the astonishing story of how a designer of video game equipment conquered the market for AI hardware, and in the process re-invented the computer.

Essential to Nvidia's meteoric success is its visionary CEO Jensen Huang, who more than a decade ago, on the basis of a few promising scientific results, bet his entire company on AI. Through unprecedented access to Huang, his friends, his investors, and his employees, Witt documents for the first time the company's epic rise and its single-minded and ferocious leader, now one of Silicon Valley's most influential figures.

The Thinking Machine is the story of how Nvidia evolved to supplying hundred-million-dollar supercomputers. It is the story of a determined entrepreneur who defied Wall Street to push his radical vision for computing, becoming one of the wealthiest men alive. It is the story of a revolution in computer architecture, and the small group of renegade engineers who made it happen. And it's the story of our awesome and terrifying AI future, which Huang has billed as the 'next industrial revolution, ' as a new kind of microchip unlocks hyper-realistic avatars, autonomous robots, self-driving cars, and new movies, art, and books, generated on command.

This is the story of the company that is inventing the future.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Thinking Machine

"A lively biography. . . . The story of how Nvidia became the hottest investment on Wall Street and a household name is fascinating."
--Katie Notopoulos, The New York Times Book Review

"Framed as a biography of Jensen Huang, the only CEO Nvidia has ever had, the book is also something more interesting and revealing: a window onto the intellectual, cultural, and economic ecosystem that has led to the emergence of superpowerful AI. . . . Among Witt's key contributions is to show that Nvidia's success can't be understood apart from the culture and economy of Silicon Valley (and of tech more generally)."
--James Surowiecki, The Atlantic

"Mr. Witt is adept at explaining the hardware and software behind AI. Lay readers mystified by parallel processing and large language models will find The Thinking Machine worth reading."
--Marc Levinson, The Wall Street Journal

"Witt's book delves into not just what Nvidians have done but how they think -- or don't think -- about what their inventions will bring in the grander scheme of history."
--Emma Cosgrove, Business Insider

"Gripping and brilliantly told, this is the amazing story of the improbable origins of one of the most important technologies of our times."
--Mustafa Suleyman, New York Times bestselling author of The Coming Wave and CEO of Microsoft AI

"Stephen Witt's deep reporting shines through every page of The Thinking Machine. The result is a page-turning biography of perhaps the most consequential CEO and company in the world."
--David Epstein, New York Times bestselling author of Range

"The Thinking Machine brilliantly captures the riveting, unlikely story of Jensen Huang's Nvidia--a company driving the exponential growth of artificial intelligence and humanity's inevitable merger with technology. Stephen Witt's exceptional reporting offers a rare glimpse into the pioneers driving humanity's leap toward an infinite future."
--Ray Kurzweil, New York Times bestselling author of The Singularity is Nearer

"The AI revolution that defines this decade, and probably this century, rests on the shoulders of a shockingly small number of geniuses; and Nvidia's Jensen Huang is prominent among them. Witt's superb portrait is both entertaining and disquieting, capturing an indispensable, elusive, and isolated man: the hardware wizard behind the machines that are careering toward something very much like sentience."
--Sebastian Mallaby, New York Times bestselling author of More Money Than God and The Power of Law

"Jensen Huang is smarter than the rest of us. He had the vision to see before anyone else that AI is the transformative technology of our time and the business chops to capitalize. Stephen Witt's up-close account of Nvidia's rise is an essential introduction to the future we are all going to be living in."
--Scott Galloway, Professor or Marketing NYU Stern and Co-host of the Pivot and Prof G Markets Podcasts

"Before reading The Thinking Machine, I didn't understand just how much the rise of Jensen Huang and Nvidia explains the sudden explosion of artificial intelligence. Stephen Witt's sweeping narrative offers a roadmap to the various forces rapidly changing our lives, tucked into the wild insider story of how one of our strangest and most singular entrepreneurs--in an era chock full of them--not only built a remarkable company but also helped to usher in our brave new world."
--Reeves Wiedeman, author of Billion Dollar Loser

"The Thinking Machine is a delicious account of how a scrawny Taiwanese immigrant, with an intense commitment to reason, loyalty to people, and a Stakhanovite work ethic, built the engine of the AI revolution."
--Michael Moritz, former Chairman, Sequoia Capital

"A fun and well-informed look at its subject matter. There should be more books on one of the world's most valuable companies, and yes here supply is elastic."
--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

"This insightful biography from journalist Witt (How Music Got Free) recaps how Taiwanese American electrical engineer Jensen Huang built Nvidia, the microchip company he cofounded, into the central supplier for the AI revolution. . . . Witt offers a perceptive account of how Huang thrived amid the cutthroat competition of Silicon Valley by pursuing offbeat products and niche markets, and his unrivaled access leads to some revealing moments, as when Huang explodes at Witt for suggesting that AI might harm humanity. The result is an entertaining account of a brave new world at its dawning."
--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Stephen Witt is the author of How Music Got Free, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, and the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Financial Times, New York, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and GQ. He lives in Los Angeles, California.