How a $1M 'fake chip' saved Nvidia in 1997 — the RIVA 128 bet that made Jensen Huang
bigaiguy · x · 2026-11-14
A retelling of Nvidia's near-death moment: after the NV1 flop and a cancelled Sega chip, Jensen Huang cut the company from 100 to 40 people and bet everything on RIVA 128. Skipping the months-long prototyping cycle, he bought a $1M refrigerator-sized hardware emulator from struggling IKOS — a 'fake chip' built in code — ran every game and driver on it, caught bugs before silicon existed, and went straight to mass production. RIVA 128 shipped in August 1997 with about one month of payroll left, sold 1M units in four months, and Nvidia IPO'd in 1999. Note: the post's closing claim that Nvidia announced Huang's resignation on Nov 12, 2026 is unverified.
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