Jen-Hsun Huang describes the century-long history of technology development in the United States and NVIDIA's future AI layout in four minutes.

This is not an advertisement for manufacturers, but a declaration of the arrival of the AI century. All of humanity should watch this short film narrated by Jen-Hsun Huang, America’s Next Great Leap: The Age of AI, which tells the story of over a century of technological development in the United States in just over four minutes. From the invention of the transistor at Bell Labs that opened the semiconductor era, to the mother of WiFi, Hedy Lamarr, to the U.S. government's invention of ARPANET that gave birth to the internet, Intel's microprocessors that ushered in personal computers, and finally entering the realm of artificial intelligence, revealing how NVIDIA will steer the future in the next moment akin to the “Apollo moon landing.”

Jen-Hsun Huang mentioned in the video that Bell Labs ( is now linked to major institutions in American technology history, such as Nokia), IBM, Intel, Apple, Microsoft, xAI, and the U.S. National Electric Equipment Center; the final character that appears in the video is “NVIDIA”, which plays a pivotal role in the layout of the industrial revolution. The video also cleverly incorporates Taiwan's role in the Apple iPhone screen, implying that Taiwan is an indispensable player in this AI revolution.

Among all the infrastructure mentioned by Jen-Hsun Huang, the most noteworthy is the clean fusion energy program supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and the AI factory. This video conveys a clear message: the United States has not only been a pioneer in technological innovation but is also poised to face the next moonshot challenge with an AI-centered industrial revolution. Using history as a mirror, he allows the audience to witness the evolution from transistors, semiconductors, microprocessors, the internet, to smartphones, and how the upcoming global AI factories and fusion energy program infrastructure will once again rewrite human history.

The following organizes the historical figures and institutions mentioned or honored by Jen-Hsun Huang in the GTC 2025 short film, along with their important contributions to the development of technology in the United States, sorted by time and theme as follows.

Jen-Hsun Huang pays tribute to American tech pioneers

In the short film America’s Next Great Leap: The Age of AI, which was played at the opening of GTC 2025, Jen-Hsun Huang not only promotes NVIDIA's groundbreaking product achievements but also leads the audience through a historical line that spans semiconductors, communications, computing, Quantinuum, personal computers, artificial intelligence, and supercomputers, to pay tribute to the innovators and inventors who have rewritten the world. In the film, he covers the team behind the breakthrough invention of the transistor at Bell Labs, the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who opened the semiconductor era, the leaders who launched System 360 at IBM, the engineers who built the first microprocessor at Intel, the researchers who drove the wireless revolution in communications, and the technological revolution fostered by companies like Apple, founded by Jobs, and Microsoft. While these names may not all be explicitly mentioned in the film, their spirit and impact are woven into the narrative.

The beginning of the semiconductor and electronic era

Bell Labs

Key Figures: William Shockley, John Bardeen, Walter Brattain Contribution: Invented the transistor in 1947, opening the era of semiconductors and laying the foundation for modern electronics and computer industries. Significance: The birth of Silicon Valley can be traced back to this; the “small yet powerful” transistor became the core of all computing devices. The communication revolution and the rise of the computer industry.

Hedy Lamarr

Contribution: Invented “Spread Spectrum” technology, laying the foundation for wireless communication and Wi-Fi. Significance: Hedy Lamarr was not only a Hollywood star but also a technological pioneer, symbolizing the power of the combination of art and technology.

IBM

Leaders and Team: Thomas J. Watson Jr. and the System 360 team. Contribution: Launched the System 360 general-purpose computer system in 1964, achieving computer modularization and standardization, laying the foundation for the era of commercial computing. Microprocessor and personal computer revolution.

Intel

Key figures: Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore Contributions: Launched the first microprocessor Intel 4004 in 1971, marking the beginning of the personal computer and digital age. Significance: Moore's Law became a symbol of technological advancement.

CRA Supercomputer (Cray Supercomputer)

Founder: Seymour Cray (Seymour Cray) Contributions: Developed the fastest computer in the world, expanding the boundaries of scientific computing. Personal computing and software revolution.

Apple

Key figures: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak Contributions: Macintosh brought computing into daily life, changing the relationship between humans and computers.

Microsoft

Representative figure: Bill Gates Contributions: Popularized software, promoted the global PC revolution, and created the Windows ecosystem. Internet and mobile generation.

The US government and the ARPANET team

Contribution: Constructed the ARPA network (ARPANET), connecting the first batch of computer nodes, becoming the prototype of the modern Internet.

Apple opens the era of smartphones.

Product: iPhone

Contribution: Achieving the control of personal computers and the internet in one hand, leading to the era of mobile networks. Artificial intelligence and the new industrial revolution.

NVIDIA

Founder: Jen-Hsun Huang Contribution: Driving the AI computing revolution with GPU as the core, making artificial intelligence a new infrastructure. Significance: AI will be as ubiquitous as electricity and the internet, propelling industries and civilization into a new era.

NVIDIA AI Factory Vision, Layout and Partners

At this year's GTC, Jen-Hsun Huang elaborated on the vision of “AI Factory”, an artificial intelligence infrastructure built collaboratively by NVIDIA products and partners. He pointed out that this is not just a collection of chips and servers, but a set of AI factories that propel science, industry, and civilization into a new phase. In this ecosystem, NVIDIA collaborates with leading institutions to jointly create a new generation of computing and research platforms. Jen-Hsun Huang emphasized that the AI Factory will become a source of global innovation, with strong support from NVIDIA's GPUs, networks, and computing platforms across energy, healthcare, aerospace, robotics, and quantum science.

NVIDIA's partners include the following:

xAI: An artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk. Quantinuum: A global leader in quantum computing. Robotics and SpaceX: Frontline forces driving automation and space exploration. Medical Labs: AI-driven medical and supercomputing applications. General Atomics and DIII-D U.S. Department of Energy: Accelerating nuclear fusion research with high-performance computing. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Implementing AI analysis and simulations in space exploration missions.

NVIDIA collaborates with DIII-D to develop nuclear fusion clean energy

DIII-D is the largest nuclear fusion research facility in the United States, operated by General Atomics on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. In recent years, General Atomics, with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy, has completed significant upgrades to the DIII-D facility, enhancing high-performance computing and data diagnostic systems, allowing researchers to observe and control plasma behavior with greater resolution. These upgrades include the deployment of advanced sensing equipment, real-time data processing servers, and remote collaboration platforms, enabling scientists to participate in experiments and data analysis in real-time from around the world.

Applications of Digital Twins in DIII-D

DIII-D has recently completed a major upgrade, enhancing its computational and diagnostic capabilities to further support fusion energy ( research. Notably, DIII-D has embarked on a collaboration with NVIDIA, which is using DIII-D's dataset to develop Digital Twin technology, aimed at applying AI machine learning to plasma control and fusion applications. General Atomics, additionally, the U.S. Department of Energy has also provided funding support, enabling DIII-D to carry out projects that include using artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to maintain high fusion performance.

Fusion Energy Worth Noting

If fusion energy can be realized, it will become an “almost unlimited, clean, and safe” energy source. DIII-D plays a key bridging role in this path, as the roles of high-performance computing, data analysis, and artificial intelligence in fusion research are rapidly increasing. This is at the intersection of the technology industry (including companies like NVIDIA) and national strategy (such as the role of the United States in technology and energy). By grasping the development context of “fusion + AI,” one can gain a deeper understanding of NVIDIA's strategic position in AI factory infrastructure layout.

NVIDIA has developed a digital twin system for fusion reactors based on experimental data from DIII-D, utilizing GPU-accelerated simulations and AI models to predict and optimize plasma dynamic control. This technology significantly enhances the stability and energy efficiency of fusion reactions, paving the way for future sustainable energy development.

At the same time, the U.S. Department of Energy also announced the provision of a new round of research funding to advance the application of DIII-D in the fields of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC), encouraging research teams to explore how to utilize AI to maintain high-performance fusion states and shorten the time from experiment to application. Through these efforts, the U.S. hopes to achieve a global leading position in the intersection of nuclear fusion and AI.

The progress of DIII-D symbolizes a new era of energy taking shape. From the laboratories of General Atomics to the AI factories of NVIDIA, technology is accelerating humanity towards a future of “infinite, clean, and safe” energy. This is not only a milestone in nuclear fusion research but also a vivid portrayal of artificial intelligence becoming the core engine of science.

America’s Next Great Leap: The Age of AI is a short film that not only reviews the evolution of human technology but also helps us understand how in this era of rapidly advancing global artificial intelligence, traditional tech giants like IBM, Intel, Apple, Microsoft, and Bell Labs are closely connected with NVIDIA to jointly create the AI revolution.

Reference:

DIII-D National Fusion Program Completes Facility Upgrade

DIII-D National Fusion Facility Achieves Historic Operational Milestone on the Road to Developing Fusion Energy

In this article, Jen-Hsun Huang describes the century-long history of technological development in the United States and NVIDIA's future AI strategy in four minutes. It first appeared in ChainNews ABMedia.