Nvidia heads 50 companies that will change the world

Grace Shallow July 4, 2017

Nvidia claimed the top spot on MIT’s annual 50 Smartest Companies list, ranking above powerhouses such as Amazon (#3) and Apple (#16).

Nvidia heads 50 companies that will change the world

This is the company’s third consecutive year on the list, but a definite improvement. It was given the #28 spot in 2015 and the #12 spot last year.

The company established itself by selling graphics chips for video games and continues to innovate by providing other companies processing power for AI software with its data-center and graphic processing unit chips.

Revenue for the company’s data-center increased by 186% and revenue for the company’s automotive businesses increased by 24% during the last financial quarter, according to MIT. The company spent $3 billion on developing a new data-center chip, proving that the adage “You have to spend money to make money” is right.

Nvidia’s financial prowess is reflected by the big names using their services. Companies such as Google and Apple turn to Nvidia’s chips to accelerate their technological development. More than 1,500 startups of several industries rely on the company as they gain traction in the world of machine learning as well.

The company is also on the front lines of developing self-driving cars, and its autonomous-driving chipset is used by major manufacturers such as Toyota. Tesla also graces MIT’s list for its best efforts in sustainability and electric vehicles, alongside the company’s big bet on self-driving cars.

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Other companies with a stronghold over the future join MIT’s ranks as the smartest in the world. 23andMe — every hypochondriac’s delight and worst nightmare — is on Amazon’s tail at the #4 spot, followed directly by Google owner Alphabet which is celebrating its seventh consecutive year being named on the list. IBM clocks in at the #39 spot for its emerging technology, like the AI know-it-all Watson, which just expanded its expertise to tennis at Wimbledon.

DJI and Snap, which are both shaping how we see the world and process all of this innovation through slightly different lenses, also get mentioned at the #25 and #48 spot, respectively.

Nvidia’s importance increases as the prevalence machine and deep learning will have in the future becomes more and more apparent. As the company’s VP of enterprise Alex White said in March, machine learning’s further development is one that could ignite “powerful and profound change […] for everyone and everything.”