[NVIDIA People] Zero-Share Co-Founder Bets Everything on Quantum Computing as the 'Gibukking'

"Making New York a Quantum Valley"
Curtis Priem, Co-founder Who Built NVIDIA with Jensen Huang
Co-founder Donates Generously to Alma Mater
Over 20 Years of Donations to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Delivered 100 Billion Won for Quantum Computing Systems

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, now known for his trademark leather jacket and graying hair, founded NVIDIA over 30 years ago in 1993. Huang was not the only founder of NVIDIA. His close engineer colleagues Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem were also co-founders. Priem, who served as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) during NVIDIA's first decade, is as busy these days as CEO Huang.

At the installation ceremony of the IBM quantum computing system held last October at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Curtis Priem, co-founder of NVIDIA (second from the left), along with IBM and school officials, are posing for a commemorative photo. (Photo by IBM website)

According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Curtis Priem, NVIDIA co-founder, has donated generously over the past 20 years to his alma mater, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), aiming to transform it into a cutting-edge technology hub. Having studied at RPI from the late 1970s to early 1980s, he believes that if his alma mater succeeds in advancing quantum computing with these donations, it will invigorate not only the school but also the regional economy.

Based on this belief, Priem has donated nearly $300 million (approximately 407.6 billion KRW) to RPI since 2001. Of this, $75 million was specifically allocated for establishing a quantum computing system. With these funds, RPI became the first university to acquire IBM’s quantum computing system. Considering that IBM has installed this system in only about 70 locations worldwide over the past eight years, the university’s acquisition of the quantum computing system is seen as a groundbreaking move.

Priem believes that having top-tier equipment at the university for research not only produces high-quality research outcomes but also helps nurture talent in quantum computing.

In an interview with WSJ, Priem stated that his goal is to make New York’s Hudson Valley the core of quantum computing research in the United States. He said, "I want to turn Hudson Valley into 'Quantum Valley.' Whether New York becomes the Silicon State depends on that. It’s not just a simple valley." Criticizing Silicon Valley, dominated by Meta Platforms and Google, as a "social app valley," he emphasized that semiconductor technology development is actively underway in New York.

Currently, New York is home to semiconductor manufacturing plants operated by U.S. companies such as GlobalFoundries, ON Semiconductor, and Wolfspeed. The leading U.S. semiconductor company Micron has also decided to invest up to $100 billion to build a large-scale factory near Syracuse. The Biden administration has pledged $6.1 billion in funding to support Micron’s investment.

Priem, a highly capable engineer, designed the IBM Professional Graphics Adapter, the first graphics processor for PCs. Before founding NVIDIA in 1993, he worked as a senior engineer at Sun Microsystems, developing graphics chips. Leveraging this experience, Priem was responsible for software architecture development when NVIDIA was founded. At that time, Huang took charge of company management decisions, while co-founder Malachowsky handled hardware design.

According to WSJ, it was also Priem who coined the name NVIDIA by combining the English word "envy" and the Latin word "Invidia," which share the same meaning.

Priem left NVIDIA in 2003 and gradually sold off his shares until 2006. Forbes reported in November last year that if Priem had retained his shares instead of selling them, their value could have reached $70 billion, making him the sixteenth richest person in the United States. In an interview with Forbes, he reflected on his NVIDIA shares, saying, "I did something a bit crazy. I think I should have held on to them longer."