The Taiwanese American siblings embarking on a global AI rivalry
Jensen Huang and Lisa Su: Taiwanese American cousins turned fierce competitors, leading the charge in the global AI race with strikingly similar paths
Jensen Huang and Lisa Su have a lot in common.
The chief executives of Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) arent just two of the most powerful people in the global AI chip industry, theyre also family.
Su first established the connection in 2020, and Jean Wu, a Taiwanese genealogist, has recently provided a more comprehensive explanation. Despite not growing up together, this lack of childhood bond potentially simplifies their current competition within one of the world's most closely monitored industries.
Their family history is intertwined with Taiwan, an island that finds itself amidst the competition between the United States and China for dominance in the high tech industry. Wu, a former financial journalist turned corporate family researcher, explained that in Mandarin Chinese, Huang is referred to as Sus "biao jiu." In Western terms, they are known as first cousins once removed, signifying a generational separation between cousins, as Wu informed CNN.
Su, Huang's uncle's granddaughter, was identified by Wu through extensive research of public records, newspaper clippings, yearbooks, and an interview with a close family member of Huang's. When questioned at a Consumer Technology Association (CTA) event in 2020, Su smiled and referred to themselves as distant relatives.
An Nvidia spokesperson also confirmed that Huang and Su are distant cousins through their mothers' side of the family. Huang has chosen not to comment on this matter, while Su has not responded to a request for comment.
The industry watchers have become fascinated by the link.
In Taiwan, where Su and Huang were born six years apart and now hold rockstar status, the local news broadcasts have featured discussions on the topic. On online platforms like Reddit and other forums, users have been buzzing about the coincidence, and sketches of supposed family trees have been circulating on social media.
Wu expressed her surprise at the discovery, stating, "It's quite astonishing. I believe the people in Taiwan feel delighted as the world can now recognize Taiwan's existence." Christopher Miller, the author of "Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology," also admitted his initial astonishment.
"But it's not surprising to find two individuals of Taiwanese descent at the epicenter of the chip industry," he informed CNN. "Because even though Taiwan is geographically distant from Silicon Valley, there are no two regions in the world that have stronger networks in terms of familial connections, business relationships, and educational associations."
Nvidia offices in Taipei
I-Hwa Cheng/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Taiwan's economy has been bolstered by its rich heritage of producing top-notch hardware, according to Edith Yeung, the general partner at Race Capital, a prominent venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Notably, she acknowledged the pivotal roles played by iconic companies like TSMC (TSM), ASUS, Acer, and Foxconn in inspiring a generation of aspiring tech engineers.
Miller concurred and emphasized that Taiwan's economy has been focused on electronics production, chip assembly, chip manufacturing, and chip design for nearly fifty years. Today, semiconductors constitute the largest export of Taiwan's economy. As a result, semiconductors have become a highly sought-after career choice for young individuals considering their university studies and future career paths.
This image showcases a portion of an integrated circuit board exhibited at the Semicon Taiwan trade show in Taipei, Taiwan. The event is scheduled to take place from Tuesday, September 6 to Thursday, September 8, 2023. The photograph is credited to I-Hwa Cheng/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
I-Hwa Cheng/Bloomberg/Getty Images
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Su and Huang, despite being raised abroad for the most part, were no different.
Nvidia states that Huang, who was born in 1963 in Taipei, later moved with his family to the southern city of Tainan. They eventually moved to Thailand due to his father's employment at an oil refinery.
At the age of nine, Huang's parents sent him and his brother to live with relatives in Washington state due to political unrest in their Southeast Asian country. From there, the siblings were sent to boarding school in Kentucky. Meanwhile, Su, born in 1969 in Tainan, immigrated to New York City at the age of three.
Though the two grew up far away from one another, they went on to similar paths as adults.
Su spoke at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. She has emerged as one of the highest-paid executives in America, holding the title of the highest-earning female CEO in the S&P 500 in the previous year.
They both pursued electrical engineering, with Su attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while Huang pursued studies at Oregon State University and Stanford University.
Although they later found themselves in the fast-paced semiconductor industry, they worked at separate companies for the most part, but did have one mutual employer.
Prior to co-founding Nvidia in 1993, Huang gained experience as a microprocessor designer at AMD. Su, on the other hand, joined AMD almost twenty years later as a senior vice president and was acclaimed for successfully transforming the company.
Both executives currently reside in Santa Clara, California, where their headquarters are conveniently located within a 5-minute drive from each other. These executives are responsible for leading companies that specialize in providing hardware and software solutions to the top tech companies worldwide. According to McKinsey, the industry in which they operate is anticipated to achieve a staggering value of $1 trillion by 2030. In AMD's recent annual report, they identified Nvidia as a prominent rival in two of their main business sectors: gaming and data centers.
The companies were previously renowned among gamers for their sale of GPUs, which enhance the visual experience in video games. However, both companies have expanded beyond gaming competition to now include the utilization of their GPUs in powering generative AI technology, like the systems seen in ChatGPT. OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has employed Nvidia's H100 GPUs to train its language model, as acknowledged by Nvidia. Additionally, AMD has introduced the MI300X, which they promote as "the most advanced accelerator for generative AI" in the world, allowing for a comparison between the two companies' offerings.
AMD announced in its recent earnings report that it anticipates generating over $2 billion in revenue from GPUs by 2024. Additionally, the company forecasts that the MI300 series will achieve the remarkable feat of becoming "the fastest product to ramp to $1 billion in sales in AMD history." These optimistic projections propelled AMD's stock price up by nearly 10% the following day.
An AMD graphics processing unit (GPU). AMD and Nvidia were once best known in the gaming world for producing graphics chips.
Florence Lo/Reuters
Both companies, AMD and Nvidia, are competitors in the sale of gear for data centers. Data centers are physical facilities that store large amounts of electronic data. They rely on crucial chips like central processing units (CPUs) and data processing units (DPUs). CPUs assist in running operating systems and programs smoothly, while DPUs optimize computer space for multitasking. AMD and Nvidia both sell these components to businesses.
Lately, these companies have gained widespread recognition for their advanced technology that has the potential to reshape society. Their processors are increasingly being utilized in electric cars and artificial intelligence (AI) systems, expanding their influence beyond traditional devices like PCs and PlayStations.
"I would say anyone who logs on the internet is likely touching not just one, but dozens and hundreds of Nvidia and AMD chips," said Miller.
On May 25, 2023, a trader is seen working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the opening bell in New York City. Global stock markets faced difficulties that day due to the ongoing US debt standoff and Germany slipping into a recession. However, there was a significant surge in tech shares following the announcement of substantial earnings by US chip firm Nvidia, which can be attributed to the boom in artificial intelligence. The photograph was taken by Timothy A. Clary and is courtesy of AFP/Getty Images.
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"AMD and Nvidia are often overlooked by most people due to their invisible chip production. However, unbeknownst to many, both Nvidia and AMD play a significant role in our daily lives."
The AI boom has significantly boosted Nvidia's shares, positioning the company as a leader in the technology necessary for AI training. Consequently, Nvidia's stock has experienced a remarkable rally, surging by 208% this year. Although AMD's shares have also risen by 73% in 2023, it is worth noting that the company is considerably smaller than Nvidia, according to Miller.
Meanwhile, Su has become one of the highest-paid executives in America, holding the position of the highest-paid female CEO in the S&P 500 in the previous year. In 2019, she claimed the top spot on the list for CEOs, both male and female, of companies included in the index, as confirmed by joint evaluations conducted by executive compensation analysis firm Equilar and the Associated Press.
It is safe to say that anyone accessing the internet is highly likely to encounter not just one, but numerous Nvidia and AMD chips.
Christopher Miller, the author of "Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology," predicts that the fortunes of both chipmakers could be at stake due to ongoing geopolitical tension. In a recent regulatory filing, Nvidia announced that US export controls impacting its advanced AI chips in China took effect earlier than anticipated, which could potentially impact its business.
The company anticipates no significant immediate impact on its financial results. However, it acknowledges the potential for long-term "permanent loss of opportunities" due to these restrictions.
A Nvidia HGX H100 server is located at Nvidia Corp.’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia Corp. dominates the market with an 80% share in data-center accelerators, a specific type of chip crucial to the technology sector. The demand for their AI processors has led to a current waiting time of eight months. Image credit: Marlena Sloss/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
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AMD also said in August it would comply with US curbs, while looking to develop products specifically for China.
Such concerns would likely far outweigh any awkward family dynamic.
Asked about her relationship to Huang by the CTA in 2020, Su said "I think Nvidias a great company."
"Undoubtedly, the demonstrated technological capabilities they have showcased in the past decade have propelled the industry towards significant advancements in the field of AI," she remarked.
"In this competitive world, there is no doubt that we fiercely compete. However, it is also a realm where occasional collaboration with our competitors becomes imperative."
CNNs Lindsey Knight contributed to this report.
