INTERVIEW/What Jensen Huang's biographer sees: AI visionary, relentless leader, goofy dad

By Jeffrey Wu and Chao Yen-hsiang, CNA staff reporter and writer

In an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven world largely powered by the chips of Nvidia, the history and blueprint of the Silicon Valley chip giant founder Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) is considered by many to be every bit as interesting as that of his world-leading company.

With the first authorized biography of Huang, "The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip," hitting the market earlier this year, CNA interviewed author Stephen Witt for a closer look at the Taiwanese-born American entrepreneur.

A finance reporter based in Los Angeles, Witt wrote a profile of Huang for The New Yorker in 2023, which paved the way for his latest biographical work.

"I'm not sure how he has avoided burning out," Witt told CNA, describing the 61-year-old Nvidia CEO as an "absolute workaholic" who has put in long hours every day for 40 years.

Huang is "extremely intelligent and works exceptionally hard," with two primary scheduling tricks that help maximize his productivity, Witt observes.

Huang always tackles the most important task on his schedule first, which Witt said is whatever is the "first thing of the day."

In addition, Huang determines timeliness for a task by adopting a concept he terms "speed of light." The idea is to first identify how fast a task can conceivably be accomplished under perfect circumstances, then work backward from this unattainable ideal to a reasonable-though still accelerated-deadline, Witt explained.

Over the past two years, Huang has proclaimed on multiple occasions that his company's chips have consigned Moore's Law to the trash can of history, an observation that suggests the number of transistors on a microchip doubles approximately every 18-24 months.

Asked about Huang's expectations for employees and the atmosphere at Nvidia, Witt compares it to a "great research project" that races to achieve "an ambitious goal like the Apollo program."

Witt said many things at the chip designer are tied to a six-month chip release cycle, with many projects thrown together in a series of late-night crunches near the deadline.

"Amazingly, many of these improvised systems still form the basis of Nvidia's chip architecture," he added.

Starting his career in the industry by designing microchips in his 20s, Huang embraced AI's ability to take over much of the work, Witt said, adding that he envisions a future where robots can even rearrange the walls of buildings.

Out of public's sight, Witt recalls that Huang is not immune to nerves before delivering a speech despite his rich experiences and skills.

"My favorite memory of him is watching him shift back and forth on his feet before giving a scheduled talk. He's great at public speaking, and has given thousands of presentations -- but it still makes him nervous."

In Taiwan, Huang is known for his approachable image, willing to chat with the press and being a big fan of local night markets, which approximates Witt's depiction of him both at Nvidia and at home.

Although he is said to reprimand staff in front of others, the biographer said some suggest the Nvidia CEO stages his anger and reprimands as "deliberate theater," and his employees often communicate using customized Jensen Huang chat emojis.

Witt refers to Huang at home as a "goofy dad," who likes to cook and throw a baseball around and is as committed to being a good father and husband as the leader of Nvidia.

It is no secret that Huang sees failure as one of his major enemies, but what does that mean?

"He hates, hates, hates to lose," Witt said, adding that Huang tends to explode when he gets frustrated by failures, especially when a project is poorly executed.

However, that hatred of failure extends beyond his job, Witt notes, saying he could tell the sexagenarian still feels upset about his loss in the final of a high school table tennis match.

That mindset may be what drives Huang's relentless work ethic. Indeed, Witt said if he is ever given a full day off without work obligations, Huang would most likely "start another business."

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