Nvidia shocks again.

At CES, the world's largest annual technology conference, held from January 6-9 in Las Vegas, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed the next strategic steps for the world's most valuable semiconductor company. The highlight of his presentation was the next-generation AI chip called Vera Rubin, along with notable advancements in the field of self-driving cars, particularly the collaboration project with Mercedes-Benz.

According to Mr. Huang, Nvidia will begin shipping the Vera Rubin AI chip by the end of 2026. This is the result of three years of research and development, aiming to create a processor that is both more powerful and more energy-efficient than its predecessors. The new chip is expected to further solidify Nvidia's dominant position in the global AI boom.

Nvidia's new superchip

Vera Rubin is designed to perform more computations while consuming less power. This is particularly important as data centers worldwide face increasing energy cost pressures due to the need to train and operate large AI models.

Nvidia announced that Rubin chips have entered production and will be delivered to customers in the second half of this year. Major partners such as Microsoft and Amazon are among the first customers, fulfilling the commitment Jensen Huang made in March 2025 at Nvidia's annual conference in San Jose, California.

Nvidia has introduced a new AI superchip called Vera Rubin with superior computing performance. Photo: New York Times .

According to official announcements, businesses can train AI models using only about one-quarter the number of Rubin chips compared to the previous Blackwell generation. This could reduce the operating costs of chatbots and other AI products by as much as 10%. In addition, Nvidia has redesigned its supercomputers, allowing for faster chip deployment in data centers by reducing the number of cables required.

If these specifications are achieved in practice, the Rubin chip could help companies develop AI at a significantly lower cost, while also partially addressing the growing power consumption concerns in the technology industry.

"This is how we're moving people into the next phase of AI, while simultaneously building energy-efficient and cost-effective data centers," Jensen Huang emphasized.

Immense competitive pressure

The Vera Rubin chip is named after the renowned astronomer known for her groundbreaking research on dark matter. The launch of this new generation of chips is crucial for Nvidia to maintain its leading position in the AI industry. Currently, the tech giant's AI chips hold over 90% of the global market share and are highly sought after by businesses and governments worldwide. Each chip costs approximately $30,000 , with a profit margin of around 75% per processor.

However, Nvidia is no longer in a monopolistic position. Competition in the AI chip sector is becoming increasingly fierce, not only from traditional rivals but also from the company's own customers. Last year, AMD and Google signed agreements to supply technology to OpenAI, one of the world's largest users of AI chips.

This competitive pressure contributed to Nvidia signing a technology licensing agreement with startup Groq in December 2025. The agreement is expected to help Nvidia develop chips that are more optimized for the inference phase, the processing step when AI responds to user requests, which is increasingly playing a larger role in commercial operations.

The global competition for AI chips is becoming increasingly fierce. Photo: Bloomberg .

According to Daniel Newman, CEO of research firm Futurum Group, the trend of reduced costs and energy consumption is inevitable as AI becomes more widely applied. "We are still in the very early stages of AI adoption," Newman stated.

Alongside technological competition, Nvidia also faces geopolitical challenges. Over the past year, Jensen Huang has spent considerable time lobbying the US government to allow Nvidia to continue selling AI chips to China. At the same time, he has sought to counter moves from Beijing to restrict domestic businesses from purchasing Nvidia chips, citing security concerns.

The leader of Nvidia

The global demand for AI chips has turned Jensen Huang into a “technology diplomat.” He frequently appears on trips with the US President to the Middle East and the UK, playing a key role in facilitating technology deals between countries.

Three years of explosive AI growth have brought Nvidia phenomenal growth. In its financial report released in November 2025, the company recorded quarterly profits of $31.9 billion , a 65% increase compared to the same period last year and a 245% increase compared to two years prior. Nvidia expects revenue to reach approximately $500 billion by the end of this year.

Jensen Huang helped Nvidia become the world's leading AI chip manufacturer. Photo: Bloomberg .

However, Jensen Huang doesn't want Nvidia to rely solely on AI chips for data centers. He's actively expanding into new areas like robotics and autonomous vehicles.

At CES 2026, he stated that Nvidia has developed new AI software called Alpamayo, enabling partners like Uber and Lucid to build and test self-driving cars. Nvidia will share this platform to expand its ecosystem and increase the attractiveness of its technology.

Notably, the collaboration between Nvidia and Mercedes-Benz in the field of self-driving cars is entering the commercial phase. The two companies have been working together since 2020 and are expected to begin delivering the first vehicles utilizing this technology when the Mercedes CLA launches in Europe and the US in the first half of this year.

According to Jensen Huang, Nvidia has been researching self-driving cars for eight years and currently has over 1,000 people involved in the project. "Our vision is that one day, every car, every truck will be able to drive itself," he stated.

Source: https://znews.vn/nvidia-lai-gay-soc-post1617424.html