Nvidia CEO says tech giant will continue investing heavily in Israel despite war in Gaza

The co-founder and chief executive officer of the American tech giant Nvidia recently announced that the company would continue investing heavily in the Start-Up Nation despite its ongoing war with the terrorist organization Hamas.

Nvidia Corporation's CEO Jensen Huang said he has an ongoing commitment to Israel and the Judea and Samaria region, internationally known as the West Bank.

"The thing I showcased, which is the heart and soul of the Blackwell processor, came from Israel. And so, we will continue to invest heavily in Israel. This entire region is very important to me," Huang stated.

"We also support all our Palestinian employees in the West Bank, and we care for them and their families. There is no risk that they will lose our support. Therefore, this region is very important to us. The employees need to know that the company stands behind them."

Huang highlighted Israel's pivotal role in the wider global high-tech sector.

"Israel is one of Nvidia's largest homes in terms of population ratio. Israel is also home to some of our most talented engineers. Our most significant investments, like NVSwitch, came from Israel," the CEO said.

The top tech executive also expressed concern about his more than 3,000 employees in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

"I have 3,300 employees in Israel. I also have nearly a hundred employees in Gaza and the West Bank – and our hearts are with all of them. The most important thing, of course, is to stay safe, and we are doing everything we can as a company to support them."

Founded in 1993 with headquarters in Santa Clara, California, Nvidia has emerged as a tech world player, especially in the arena of artificial intelligence.

Huang, a successful self-made tech executive, turned Nvidia into a global multi-billion-dollar enterprise. In the last quarter of 2023, the company’s revenues exceeded $22 billion.

In May 2023, Nvidia announced it would invest millions of dollars in building an Israeli AI supercomputer named “Israel-1.”

Nvidia's Senior Vice President of Marketing Gilad Shainer revealed that the tech giant cooperates with tens of thousands of Israeli tech engineers from over 800 start-up businesses.

Shainer assessed that AI is a central and expanding element in today’s tech landscape and characterized the supercomputer as a key driver in enhancing AI capabilities.

"Generative AI is going everywhere nowadays. You need to be able to run training on large datasets," said Shainer.

“This is a large-scale system that actually will enable them to do training much quicker, to build frameworks, and build solutions that can tackle more complex problems," he added.

Nvidia is not the only global company optimistic about the Israeli tech sector amid Israel's ongoing war against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza.

In February, about 60% of all multinational companies operating in the Jewish state expressed confidence in the nation's high-tech sector, according to a poll conducted by Ernst & Young. Only 10% of the surveyed companies believed that the war would have devastating consequences for their businesses.

Prof. Yossi Matias, CEO of the Google Research and Development Center in Israel, is hopeful about the tech sector's confidence in Israel's resilience despite wartime challenges.

“Looking ahead to 2024, despite the challenging period, part of our essential role, is to be optimistic as some of us impact what will happen in the future, and I allow myself to be optimistic despite the difficulties and despite what we are going through and experience,” Matias said.