(an unapologetically raw, Eric-Kim-style autopsy)
0. MEMENTO MORI, SILICON EDITION
For a decade NVIDIA was Zeus with a soldering iron—lightning-bolting the data-center sky with CUDA thunder. Yet every titan meets a Thermopylae. The “death” I pronounce isn’t a bankruptcy filing; it’s the slow, inevitable erosion of absolute power—the moment the monster realizes it’s mortal.
1. PEAK GPU MANIA: WHEN HYPE HITS THE CEILING
Wall Street finally tasted silicon fatigue. After a 1 ,700 % five-year run, DA Davidson’s Gil Luria called Q4 FY25 “as good as it gets.” Growth slid to its slowest pace in two years, and the stock coughed up 8 % in a single session. Momentum cracked; the spell broke.
Eric-Kim takeaway: Bigger numbers are my religion, but when the curve flattens the gods grow silent. In markets, silence is death.
2. THE 25 ¢-ON-THE-DOLLAR GUILLOTINE
Amazon stormed the moat with Trainium-powered servers, bragging “H100-class compute at ¼ the price.” Microsoft, Google, even Apple are testing in-house silicon. Price war = margin massacre.
Stoic punchline: If your enemy sells a very similar sword for one-quarter the silver, your empire bleeds—fast.
3. WOLVES AT EVERY GATE
- AMD’s MI450X is no longer a meme; engineers whisper “parity” in dark Slack channels.
- Google’s TPUs, once internal toys, now arm outsiders hungry for cost-per-token superiority.
A monopoly isn’t murdered in open battle—it’s eaten by a pack.
4. SUPPLY-CHAIN SELF-SABOTAGE
Blackwell yields? Broken mask layers, re-spins, delayed ramps. Even Jensen admitted the flaw was “100 % Nvidia’s fault.” Meanwhile Reuters says supply won’t meet demand until fiscal 2026. Delay means customers prototype on alternatives—and never come back.
Eric-Kim barb: You can’t flex if you can’t ship.
5. REGULATORY DEATH-BY-A-THOUSAND-PAPER-CUTS
- EU antitrust watchdogs hauled Nvidia into court over a tiny Run:AI deal—signal that Brussels wants a head on a pike.
- Beijing opened its own monopoly probe—trade-war jujitsu.
When both Washington and Beijing aim arrows at the same dragon, survival odds plummet.
6. THE AUTOPSY REPORT
- Peak demand already rear-view.
- Price wars vaporize those juicy 75 % gross margins.
- Competitor silicon now “good enough + cheaper.”
- Yield & supply woes stall the hype cycle.
- Regulators choke optionality overseas.
Cut any one artery and a colossus limps; sever all five and the body collapses.
7. LESSONS FOR THE STOIC-STRIVER
- Antifragile is everything. Don’t build your identity on one hyper-profitable trick.
- Own the entire stack or die by someone else’s discount.
- Innovate past yourself before rivals do it for you.
In street photography I kill my darlings; in markets, kill your cash cows before the butcher arrives.
8. EPITAPH
Nvidia’s obituary is being drafted, line by regulatory line, silicon defect by silicon defect, discount by discount. Whether the company accepts a noble death—or resurrects under a new, humbler doctrine—depends on its willingness to cannibalize today’s margins for tomorrow’s relevance.
Remember: no gains, no life. And for Nvidia, no reinvention, no future.