NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang recently shared a heartwarming anecdote regarding his rapport with Tesla chief executive Elon Musk. On the latest episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Huang spoke about the advancements made by NVIDIA lately, the changes to expect in the AI tech industry, as well as Musk being the company’s first customer.
His personal experience of meeting and working with Musk while he was associated with OpenAI has been winning hearts on social media. Users took to the comments to share their admiration for the two entrepreneurs, complimenting their farsightedness and efforts to bring in the AI revolution.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang talks about his acquaintanceship with Elon Musk
On December 3, Jensen Huang made an appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast to talk about the potential of AI, the progress NVIDIA has made since its inception, and how the AI race will undergo significant changes in the days to come. Amid their conversation, Jensen Huang spoke about Elon Musk’s amiable personality.
In 2016, NVIDIA launched the DGX-1 supercomputer. They introduced it as the first supercomputer that was capable of facilitating deep learning and supporting AI models. However, as per his anecdote in the podcast, there weren’t many takers of NVIDIA’s new product. Huang said, “When I announced this thing, nobody in the world wanted it. I had no purchase orders—not one. Nobody wanted to buy it.”
Nevertheless, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was interested in NVIDIA’s latest technology. Huang continued, “He was at the event, and we were doing a fireside chat about the future of self-driving cars. And he goes, “You know what? I have a company that could really use this.” And I said, “Wow, my first customer.” I was pretty excited about it.”
However, the NVIDIA CEO was taken aback when Musk stated that he wanted the supercomputer for a non-profit company. Huang said, “I had just spent a few billion dollars building this thing. It cost $300,000. And the chances of a non-profit being able to pay for this thing were approximately zero, and he goes, “You know, it’s an AI company, and it’s a non-profit. And we could really use one of these supercomputers.””
Later on, Huang shared that he took the opportunity anyway and made the necessary preparations. To his astonishment, when he reached the destination, which was a small crammed room, he discovered that Musk was referring to OpenAI. In other words, OpenAI’s inception and the beginning of the AI race has its roots in NVIDIA’s technological support.
Related: Jensen Huang Feels NVIDIA Is In A “No-Win Situation” Amid AI Bubble Buzz
Jensen Huang’s rapport with Elon Musk wins hearts on social media
Podcast host Joe Rogan was not the only one to express his surprise regarding Jensen Huang’s warm relationship with Elon Musk. Many users on social media were amazed by Musk’s farsightedness and commended Huang’s efforts in developing a promising piece of technology that would ignite the AI revolution in the near future.
User @niccruzpatane took to X to share this moment from Joe Rogan’s latest podcast episode. Many users flocked in to share their amazement about Huang and Musk’s acquaintanceship. One user quoted Huang to elucidate how the NVIDIA CEO and Musk’s determination and talent to foresee a future that would be AI-driven led to extraordinary developments in technology.
Jensen Huang on Elon Musk:
— JOHN (@John_Vanture) December 3, 2025
“When will comes together with skill, unbelievable things can happen.” pic.twitter.com/6FmcO7cDVb
Another user on X shed light on the kind of struggles both entrepreneurs were facing with their respective businesses. And yet, today, they are two of the biggest names in the AI industry.
The best part of this story is that both Jensen and Elon were struggling to their respective businesses off the ground … and look where they are today.
— AGORACOM – George (@AGORACOM) December 4, 2025
Indeed, NVIDIA’s centrality in the AI race has played an important role in the progress of technological developments happening across companies in the industry. At the same time, it is worth noting that the networking among the entrepreneurs themselves were crucial to make this all happen gradually.
Also Read: Jensen Huang Believes Software Could Be Built in Real-Time With AI
