Vivoli had another idea for the GPU’s launch: to actively intimidate rivals. An Nvidia marketer unfurled a banner advertising the GeForce 256 on a highway overpass that led straight to the headquarters of 3dfx (this was before its eventual bankruptcy). The banner announced that the new Nvidia GPU would change the world and crush the competition. The state police quickly removed the banner, which was being displayed illegally, and Nvidia received a formal reprimand. Still, it had served its purpose. “It was Art of War. We wanted to demoralize them,” Vivoli said. Nvidia was learning how to bend
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