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Jensen Huang Recalls Building Tesla's Early Computers and FSD Hardware With Elon Musk

MarketDash Editorial Team
2 days ago
Nvidia's CEO shared stories of the chipmaker's early work with Tesla, including developing the Model S computer and the first version of Full Self-Driving hardware, while Musk praised both Nvidia and Google as valuable AI plays.

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang took a trip down memory lane this week, reminiscing about the chipmaker's early partnerships with Tesla Inc. (TSLA) and Elon Musk that date back further than most people realize.

The Origin Story Nobody Knew

During an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast Wednesday, Huang dropped some tech history that highlights just how intertwined these companies have been. "I was lucky because I had known Elon and helped him build the first computer for the Model S," Huang explained, adding that Nvidia also contributed to building Tesla's autonomous vehicle hardware.

"We were basically the FSD computer version 1," Huang said, referring to Tesla's Full Self-Driving system. But perhaps the best story came when Huang recalled launching the DGX-1 Supercomputer at an annual event. "When I announced DGX-1, nobody in the world wanted it. I had no purchase orders," he admitted.

Enter Musk. The Tesla CEO mentioned he had a non-profit company "that could really use" the technology, which turned out to be OpenAI. Huang's response? "I boxed one up. I drove it up to San Francisco and I delivered to Elon in 2016." That's right—the Nvidia CEO personally delivered what would become a crucial piece of AI infrastructure.

Tesla's Nvidia Moment and Burry's Skepticism

Fast forward to today, and Musk is predicting Tesla will experience its own "Nvidia moment" once the company scales up unsupervised autonomous driving technology. He's betting on a "major valuation change" from self-driving, with an even bigger shift expected when Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot reaches mass production.

Not everyone's buying it. "The Big Short" investor Michael Burry recently called Tesla "ridiculously overvalued" in a blog post. He went further, criticizing what he labeled the "Elon cult" and how supporters remain bullish on Tesla's ventures until competition emerges in each sector.

Musk Returns the Praise

For his part, Musk shared that he doesn't invest traditionally—no stock portfolio or regular buy orders. Instead, he focuses on building companies. But he did offer some thoughts on which companies he sees as valuable.

"I think Google is gonna be pretty valuable in the future. They've laid the groundwork for an immense amount of value creation from an AI standpoint," Musk said about Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) (GOOG), while calling Nvidia an "obvious" choice for future value.

Speaking of Nvidia's value: the company recently exceeded expectations with third-quarter revenue of $57 billion, marking a 62% year-over-year increase and beating Wall Street's consensus estimate of $54.88 billion. Earnings per share came in at $1.30, also topping analyst expectations.

Back to News

Jensen Huang Recalls Building Tesla's Early Computers and FSD Hardware With Elon Musk

MarketDash Editorial Team
2 days ago
Nvidia's CEO shared stories of the chipmaker's early work with Tesla, including developing the Model S computer and the first version of Full Self-Driving hardware, while Musk praised both Nvidia and Google as valuable AI plays.

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang took a trip down memory lane this week, reminiscing about the chipmaker's early partnerships with Tesla Inc. (TSLA) and Elon Musk that date back further than most people realize.

The Origin Story Nobody Knew

During an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast Wednesday, Huang dropped some tech history that highlights just how intertwined these companies have been. "I was lucky because I had known Elon and helped him build the first computer for the Model S," Huang explained, adding that Nvidia also contributed to building Tesla's autonomous vehicle hardware.

"We were basically the FSD computer version 1," Huang said, referring to Tesla's Full Self-Driving system. But perhaps the best story came when Huang recalled launching the DGX-1 Supercomputer at an annual event. "When I announced DGX-1, nobody in the world wanted it. I had no purchase orders," he admitted.

Enter Musk. The Tesla CEO mentioned he had a non-profit company "that could really use" the technology, which turned out to be OpenAI. Huang's response? "I boxed one up. I drove it up to San Francisco and I delivered to Elon in 2016." That's right—the Nvidia CEO personally delivered what would become a crucial piece of AI infrastructure.

Tesla's Nvidia Moment and Burry's Skepticism

Fast forward to today, and Musk is predicting Tesla will experience its own "Nvidia moment" once the company scales up unsupervised autonomous driving technology. He's betting on a "major valuation change" from self-driving, with an even bigger shift expected when Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot reaches mass production.

Not everyone's buying it. "The Big Short" investor Michael Burry recently called Tesla "ridiculously overvalued" in a blog post. He went further, criticizing what he labeled the "Elon cult" and how supporters remain bullish on Tesla's ventures until competition emerges in each sector.

Musk Returns the Praise

For his part, Musk shared that he doesn't invest traditionally—no stock portfolio or regular buy orders. Instead, he focuses on building companies. But he did offer some thoughts on which companies he sees as valuable.

"I think Google is gonna be pretty valuable in the future. They've laid the groundwork for an immense amount of value creation from an AI standpoint," Musk said about Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) (GOOG), while calling Nvidia an "obvious" choice for future value.

Speaking of Nvidia's value: the company recently exceeded expectations with third-quarter revenue of $57 billion, marking a 62% year-over-year increase and beating Wall Street's consensus estimate of $54.88 billion. Earnings per share came in at $1.30, also topping analyst expectations.