Cousins to competitors: Know how NVIDIA, AMD CEOs are related
NVIDIA and AMD, two global AI chip industry leaders, share a surprising connection. Their chief executives, Jensen Huang and Lisa Su are first cousins. They are first cousins once removed, which refers to cousins separated by a generation. According to Jean Wu, a Taiwanese genealogist, Huang is Su's "biao jiu." That means, AMD's Su is the granddaughter of Huang's uncle.
Both were born in Taiwan and had parallel career paths
Both Huang and Su pursued careers in the AI chip industry, even though they grew up in different parts of the world. Huang, born in Taipei, Taiwan, moved with his family to various countries due to his father's job, eventually settling in the United States. Su, born in Tainan, Taiwan, immigrated to the United States at a young age. Both pursued electrical engineering, with Su studying at MIT, and Huang attending Oregon State University and Stanford University.
From different companies to competitors
Huang and Su followed similar career trajectories in the semiconductor field. They started their careers at different companies but eventually crossed paths at AMD. Huang began as a microprocessor designer at AMD and later founded NVIDIA in 1993. Su joined AMD almost twenty years later and played a crucial role in revitalizing the company. Today, both executives are based in Santa Clara, California, with their respective companies competing in the AI chip market.
Competing in the AI chip industry
NVIDIA and AMD are at the forefront of the AI chip industry, which is expected to grow to a value of $1 trillion (about Rs. 83.2 lakh crore) by 2030. These companies are well-known not only for their gaming GPUs but also for their essential contributions to generative AI technologies like ChatGPT. NVIDIA's H100 GPUs and AMD's MI300X are key players in this expanding sector, and both firms compete in various areas, including gaming and data centers.
The connection was first acknowledged by Su in 2020
"We are distant relatives," Su said when asked at a Consumer Technology Association (CTA) event in 2020. An NVIDIA spokesperson also confirmed that Huang was related to Su as a distant cousin through his mother's side of the family. Huang declined CNN's request for comment regarding this matter, while Su did not respond to a request for comment.
