Nvidia launches new AI chip, 30 times faster

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang introduced the company’s latest chip at its annual developer conference, which is 30 times faster. He also detailed a new software toolkit that makes it easier for developers to sell AI models.

Nvidia’s new flagship chip, called the B200, consists of two silicon cells the size of the company’s previous products bonded into a single component. The “Blackwell” B200 chip is 30 times faster at tasks like generating answers from chatbots. But it’s unclear how well it will perform when crunching the massive amounts of data needed to train those chatbots.

Tom Plumb, managing director and portfolio manager at Plumb Funds, said the Blackwell chip announcement was no surprise. “It reinforces that they are still the leader in processors. It’s not that the market isn’t big enough for AMD or others to compete in. But Nvidia is leading.”

Nvidia said major customers including Amazon.com, Alphabet, Microsoft, OpenAI and Oracle are expected to use the new chips in cloud computing services as well as for their own AI services.

Nvidia is also moving from selling individual chips to selling entire systems. The latest version of the system contains 72 AI chips and 36 central processing units.

Many analysts predict Nvidia's market share will fall a few percentage points by 2024 as new products from competitors hit the market and Nvidia's biggest customers make their own chips.

While Nvidia is widely known for its hardware products, the company has also produced a significant amount of software products. New software tools called microservices improve system efficiency across a variety of use cases, making it easier for businesses to incorporate AI models into their work, much like a good computer operating system can help applications run well.

In addition to AI software, Nvidia is also delving deeper into software that simulates the physical world using 3-D models. For its work on car, jet, and product design, Huang has also announced partnerships with design software companies.

Nvidia also introduced a new line of chips designed for cars, with new capabilities for running chatbots inside cars. The company has deepened its already extensive relationships with Chinese automakers, saying electric vehicle makers BYD and Xpeng will both use the new chips.

Phuong Anh

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