It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Nvidia is certainly at a high. The company’s stock price has tripled in the past year and it has seen itself transform from a graphics chip producer to an artificial intelligence company. Nvidia’s CEO Jen-Hsun Huang gave the opening keynote speech at CES 2017, CES is a global consumer electronics and consumer technology tradeshow that takes place every January in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Following the keynote, Huang spent an hour dealing with queries from a small group of press. He spoke about how the unexpected and fated combination of programmable graphics processing units (GPUs) and deep learning neural networks led to breakthroughs in AI that are leading to further breakthroughs in autonomous cars and voice controls. He also addressed PC gaming, virtual reality, self-driving car partnerships with Mercedes-Benz and Audi, and Shield TV. But the statement that really caught our attention was what he had to say on Nvidia’s partnership with Nintendo on the Switch console. It was the only statement related to Nintendo throughout Nvidia’s keynote. Huang believes that the switch will deliver an amazing gaming experience and will blow people away.
Question: Since you expanded the Shield TV with all these new features, do you have a border with the Nintendo Switch? Is there anything you’re not going to do, like more tablet work? Is there some way that the Switch fits in with the Shield TV ecosystem?
Huang: Nintendo Switch is a game console. It’s very Nintendo. That entire experience is going to be very Nintendo. The beauty of that company, the craft of that company, the philosophy of that company—they’re myopically, singularly focused on making sure that the gaming experience is amazing, surprising, and safe for young people, for children. Their dedication to their craft, that singular dedication, is quite admirable. When you guys all see Switch, I believe people are going to be blown away, quite frankly. It’s really delightful. But it has nothing to do with AI.
The Nintendo Switch is expected to launch in March 2017.
