How Nvidia left gamers broken hearted in the era of AI

How Nvidia left gamers broken hearted in the era of AI

By @KatieTarasov
Publication Date: 2026-04-18 11:59:00

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For its first 30 years, Nvidia wasn’t a household name unless you were a gamer. When the company approached bankruptcy in 1999, gaming enthusiasts saved Nvidia by snapping up its first GPU, the GeForce 256. But with more than 91% of Nvidia’s revenue now coming from data center chips, and a global memory shortage caused by soaring demand for AI, Nvidia’s original fan base feels pushed aside. Some even feel outraged, due to Nvidia’s use of AI in a new gaming tool called DLSS 5.