Nvidia is Vidya: Mukesh Ambani's twist on chipmaker's name delights Jensen Huang

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries explained that in Indian culture, knowledge (Vidya) is believed to attract wealth, symbolised by Goddess Lakshmi.

In Short

• Mukesh Ambani links Nvidia's name to 'Vidya' during AI Summit
• Nvidia sees India as central to its global AI strategy
• AI development in India challenged by linguistic diversity

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, brought a fresh perspective to Nvidia's name during the AI Summit in Mumbai, presenting his version of the chipmaker's name linking it to “Vidya,” a Sanskrit word for knowledge associated with the Hindu goddess Saraswati. Mukesh Ambani’s comment was made during a discussion with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, showcasing the growing importance of India in the world of artificial intelligence.

"While I was listening to you, you talked about Nvidia being exotic place. And I was thinking that when you were in India, I have got to give you my version of what Nvidia means to me. And I was just thinking about it backstage. There is a very important word link which is called Vidya. Vidya. And in Indian, in Hindi, as we are all determined to make the best LLM. In Hindi, Vidya means knowledge," said Mukesh Ambani.

He explained that in Indian culture, knowledge (Vidya) is believed to attract wealth, symbolised by Goddess Lakshmi.

In response, Huang enthusiastically remarked that he may have unknowingly given his company the perfect name, considering Nvidia's expanding partnerships in India.

"I knew, I named the company, right? I knew it. So, everybody said, Nvidia, what a horrible name. You will never make it. 32 years ago, I knew this. And now the story of Nvidia has been revealed. To all of you," said the Nvidia CEO.

Huang noted how closely the company's name aligns with "India" when the "V" is removed, reflecting the country’s central role in Nvidia's global ambitions. As the world enters what he called the “intelligence age,” India is increasingly at the heart of Nvidia's strategy.

The tech giant, known for its AI and computing technology, has become one of the world's most valuable companies, with a market capitalisation of $3.39 trillion, just behind Apple’s $3.57 trillion.

During his address, Huang shared that the tech industry can no longer rely on Moore’s law—the idea that computing power doubles every two years. Instead, with advances in AI, progress is accelerating four times faster each year, a phenomenon he called “computing inflation.”

Huang announced that India’s computing hardware infrastructure is set to grow 20 times by the end of the year, reflecting the country's rising importance in the global tech industry. Ambani praised the country's rapid digital transformation, driven by Reliance Jio, which helped India leap from 158th to first place in global digital connectivity within just eight years.

Mukesh Ambani pointed out that data in India is significantly cheaper than in many parts of the world, with Jio charging just 15 cents per gigabyte, compared to $5 in the US. Ambani highlighted the need to use AI responsibly, aiming to reduce global inequalities rather than increase them, especially for nations in the Global South.

Huang talked about India's potential to move beyond being the world's IT back-office to becoming a leader in AI, describing this shift as "Software 2.0." He suggested that if India succeeds in creating AI-powered software, it could soon export advanced AI solutions globally.

However, Huang also acknowledged the unique challenge posed by India’s linguistic diversity. With multiple languages and numerous dialects, India is a tough environment for developing large language models (LLMs).

“Once you crack LLMs in India,” he said, “you can build them anywhere in the world.” He specifically highlighted the complexity of Hindi, where dialects change every 50 kilometres, making AI development particularly challenging.