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@pirrer · 2026-10-16 00:34

Nvidia (@nvidia) CEO Jensen Huang and TSMC founder Morris Chang have both told the story of the same phone call. Chang says he called the number printed on Nvidia's letterhead, and Huang called out to his colleagues to be quiet because Morris Chang was on the line. Huang remembers his colleagues playing the first PlayStation at the time. On October 13, 2026, Lex Fridman (@lexfridman) posted a video of his trip to Taiwan with Huang, and Huang told the story once more. This video lines up their accounts from 2007 to 2026. Nvidia's early calls to TSMC's US office went unanswered, so Huang wrote to Chang directly. Chang says the letter irritated him, not at Nvidia but at his own sales team, because he had told them never to neglect a small customer. He was in the United States the following week, called Huang without an appointment, and visited Nvidia the next day. By Chang's account, a major TSMC customer at the time needed to bring in at least $50 million a year, and he thought Huang's pitch was bold. Huang says the first time he returned to Taiwan as an adult was to see Chang at TSMC; he recalls visiting UMC first, then choosing TSMC. The two men do not agree on when it happened. In 2007, Huang said they met in 1997. At TSMC's 30th anniversary forum in 2017, Chang said it was probably the mid-1990s, maybe 1993 or 1994, and Huang said they first met in 1993 or 1994. Chang's 2024 autobiography and a 2025 interview put the letter, the call and the first meeting in 1997. In 2026, Huang started the story in 1996. Their accounts do not agree on TSMC's size either. In 2007, Huang said TSMC had about $1 billion in annual revenue by 1996 or 1997, and Chang agreed. TSMC's reported 1995 revenue was NT$28.77 billion, about US$1 billion. In 2026, Huang recalled TSMC as a company of around $300 million. Nvidia's April 1998 IPO filing says it had just begun using TSMC to make one of its graphics chips. The first PlayStation launched in North America on September 9, 1995. Huang says the two companies have never had a contract. In October 2025, TSMC and Nvidia marked the first Blackwell wafer made on US soil at TSMC's Arizona factory, and TSMC's video of the occasion included Huang recalling Chang's old promise that TSMC would go to great lengths for Nvidia.

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