Nvidia's San Jose GTC Conference 2024 keys in on AI chips as stock skyrockets
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Some of the world’s greatest scientists and engineers have converged on Downtown San Jose for the next four days. This is as Nvidia holds its GTC Conference 2024.
Thousands of attendees, on Monday, streamed into the McEnery Convention Center, as many were keyed in on the new artificial intelligence (AI) chips and other products that are being unveiled during the conference.
Nvidia’s success stretches far beyond Silicon Valley, to Wall Street, and investors who watch the markets and the hottest stocks for investment.
"I opened a brokerage account. And I did it because primarily I wanted to invest in Nvidia," said Pablo Nava Barrera.
With warm sunshine beaming down, he sat outside the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business. He checked the stock performance of Nvidia on his smartphone, as he hoped to make a killing in the market.
For four days, from March 18 to 21, the AI software giant will hold its annual conference. Founder Jensen Huang, presenting the keynote speech at the SAP Center in San Jose, said $1 trillion of the world’s wealth is on-hand.
"No conference in the world is there a greater assembly of researchers from such diverse fields of science," said Huang.
That mix had Nvidia muscling out March Madness for attention, and thus becoming the darling of Wall Street. The company’s stock is up 260% in the last year.
"Its main product, which was very high quality, can now be used for AI which everybody talks about," said Julian Vogel, Ph.D., a finance professor at San Jose State University.
From human interface to cars and phones, other tech companies are relying on Nvidia, which is driving the company to higher plateaus.
"Unlike most companies, they’re going at it from all sides," said Larry Magid, a tech expert and CEO of ConnectSafely, Inc. "They’ve got the hardware and the software and the cloud service infrastructure. And so they’re very well positioned to capitalize on this growing and I’d have to say an exciting trend." Added Vogel, "Because Nvidia is doing so well, it drags the tide up, since the tide is always an average."
The rising economic tide has scientists and capitalists coming together to reap the benefits of a world in which technology and AI are playing an increasingly larger role.
"I wanted to be able to invest and put some of my own money into the company, because I believe in all the work that they’re doing and I think it has a lot of potential for the future," said Barrera.
He’s slated to begin an internship with Nvidia for Summer 2024. His specific assignment is expected to be checking data code used in self-driving car AI.
Jesse Gary is a reporter based in the station's South Bay bureau. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter), @JesseKTVU and on Instagram, @jessegontv