NVIDIA symbolizes 'vidya' and knowledge, Mukesh Ambani tells Jensen Huang

NVIDIA symbolizes 'vidya' and knowledge, Mukesh Ambani tells Jensen Huang
24 Oct 2024

Reliance Industries's Mukesh Ambani recently sat down for a chat with semiconductor giant NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang at the AI Summit India in Mumbai, engaging in a discussion about the future of AI in India and beyond.

During the talk, Ambani gave his own spin to the chipmaker's name. He connected NVIDIA to 'vidya,' a Sanskrit word for knowledge.

He also added said Huang's efforts are ushering in a new 'age of intelligence.'

Huang's reaction to interpretation
CEO's response

Huang loved the interpretation and said he was excited to have chosen the right name for his company.

Huang was thrilled with Ambani's take on NVIDIA being 'vidya.' He said, "I knew I had named the company right...22 years ago I knew this!"

Despite the initial doubts about the name NVIDIA, Huang was firm on his decision. "I knew it, I stuck with it," he said

To this, Ambani jokingly offered that Huang could indeed 'take credit for it.'

Term 'vidya' linked to prosperity
Knowledge and prosperity

Further explaining his interpretation, Ambani connected 'vidya' to Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge.

He implied that sincere devotion to acquiring knowledge could bring prosperity, represented by Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth in Hinduism.

Huang jokingly said that with this explanation, the story of NVIDIA has finally been revealed to people.

Ambani lauds Huang's role in information age
Praise and prospects

Ambani lauded Huang for his pivotal role in bringing the information age. He hoped this could possibly benefit all 8 billion people in the world, especially the 1.5 billion people of India.

NVIDIA has been in India for 20 years with development centers in four cities and employs approximately 4,000 engineers, making it its biggest base outside the US.