To save time, Jensen decreed that Nvidia would have to develop the driver software for the RIVA 128 before the prototype chip was completed—a reversal of the customary process. This would shave nearly a year off of the production timeline, but it would require the company to find a way to bypass the step of testing the software on physical chips. That was why Nvidia invested $1 million in its Ikos emulator, even though every dollar was precious: it would allow them to approach the “Speed of Light.”
