Jensen Huang: “Nvidia's team in Israel is incredible. I'll be visiting soon.”
Huang highlighted Israel’s central role in AI, networking, and high-performance chip development at CES 2026 and said he plans to visit the country soon.
LAS VEGAS - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang offered rare insight into the company’s operations in Israel at a press conference during CES 2026 on Tuesday, emphasizing the central role the country plays in the world’s most valuable technology company. Nvidia, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.55 trillion, has been operating in Israel since its $6.9 billion acquisition of networking firm Mellanox in 2019. The acquisition transformed Mellanox’s Yokneam headquarters into Nvidia’s primary Israeli hub, which now employs roughly 3,000 of the company’s 5,000 Israeli staff.
“Our team in Israel is incredible. They're hardworking, they're smart, they're dedicated, they care about the company, they care about their people, they care about the country,” Huang said when asked about Nvidia’s presence in Israel. “The sacrifices they make for each other, for their country, is incredible, and we’ve been very, very successful there.”
Huang highlighted Israel’s role in the development of key Nvidia chips. “Nvidia’s BlueField-4 DPU and three networking components, the ConnectX-9 SuperNIC, NVLink 6 Switch, and Spectrum-6 Ethernet Switch all came out of Israel. So, four out of six chips came out of Israel. Pretty amazing. And maybe next time, six out of six chips.”
The CEO also emphasized the company’s culture and approach to talent management. “Our turnover is incredibly low. You know, it’s probably one or two percent in Israel. People stay for a very long time. We have people in our Israel office who have been with the company for 20-25 years. This is quite an extraordinary thing. Our ability to attract great people is second to none, and our ability to retain them is absolutely world class.”
Huang connected these achievements to Nvidia’s broader corporate philosophy: “We dedicate ourselves to choosing good work for the company to do, that’s one of the responsibilities of the CEO, to choose what kind of work we should be doing and what kind of work we shouldn’t be doing. The quality of the work, the purpose of the company, all of it comes together, and it’s pretty magical in Israel.”
The praise comes amid Nvidia’s ongoing expansion in the country. Last month, the company formally confirmed plans to establish a 160,000-square-meter campus in Kiryat Tivon, expected to employ roughly 10,000 workers. The facility will be built on 90 dunams of state-owned land granted with an exemption from public tender, representing one of the largest private technology investments in Israel in recent years.
Nvidia’s Israeli operations now represent a central node for the company’s global hardware development. Huang’s remarks underline not only the technological importance of Israel’s workforce but also the strategic commitment Nvidia has made to the country, a hub for advanced networking, AI, and high-performance computing technologies.
Huang concluded his CES remarks with a personal note on his engagement with Israel: “I’m going to come to Israel pretty soon. I’m looking forward to that.”
