- Nvidia's GTC AI event featured a pop-up Denny's, drawing lines of attendees.
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang even wore a Denny's apron.
- It's all about Silicon Valley's origin stories.
There's nothing better than a Lumberjack Slam with your GPUs in the morning.
Denny's offerings greeted conference attendees outside Nvidia's big GTC AI event on Tuesday in San Jose, California.
There was a pop-up Denny's outside, with a line of people waiting to be served.
There were also "Nvidia Breakfast Bytes," a play on the word for a unit of digital information.
When he arrived, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang even wore a kitchen overall emblazoned with Denny's corporate colors and logos.
The guy likes to cook and has broadcast announcements from his palatial kitchen in Silicon Valley before, complete with an overly large collection of colored spatulas.
But why Denny's? As a billionaire, he could dine at Nobu rather than a breakfast diner.
It's all about Silicon Valley's love of a gritty origin story. Founders of massive, wealthy tech giants love to hearken back to the good old days when their companies were scrappy startups. It keeps the troops humble, hungry, and focused on inventing new things rather than sitting back on their digital laurels.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has "Day 1." Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin like to recall starting the search giant in former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki's garage. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in a college dorm room.
Jensen has Denny's. He and the other Nvidia cofounders, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, came up with the idea for the company over Grand Slam breakfasts and too many cups of coffee in a Denny's in San Jose.
It's the 2484 Berryessa Road location in San Jose if you want to go sometime.
