Jensen Huang, the laconic, leather-jacketed chief executive of Nvidia, is enjoying a number of triumphs. The technology group that he co-founded and runs is now the world’s sixth most valuable company, and its chips and software power the artificial intelligence revolution. This financial year, Nvidia’s revenues could overtake those of the entire US video games industry combined.

The last sounds like a mere footnote for a company whose AI supercomputers train applications such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. But it started out by supplying video game hardware, making graphics chips for personal computers and Microsoft’s Xbox console. It changed direction a decade ago, but gaming remained its biggest revenue source until last year.

Nvidia’s transformation is one of the sharpest of all business pivots, matching Nintendo’s historic move from playing cards to consoles, and Toyota’s from weaving looms to cars. No wonder Huang has been so anxious over the years. “I like to live in that state where we’re about to perish?.?.?.?I enjoy that condition,” he told the New York Times’ DealBook Summit this week.