When Nvidia surpassed Apple this week to become America’s second most valuable company, its CEO Jensen Huang was being feted like a rockstar in his birthplace Taiwan. Wearing his signature black leather jacket, Huang spoke Sunday at a packed stadium in the capital Taipei, highlighting the island’s importance in building the infrastructure that underpins artificial intelligence technology, which has powered Nvidia’s rise to the top.
Huang has visited his birthplace regularly and raised eyebrows on this trip by his reference to the island. “Taiwan is one of the most important countries in the world. It is at the center of the electronics industry. The computer industry is built because of Taiwan,” he told a local reporter while visiting a night market. Beijing generally condemns any suggestion of statehood for Taiwan.