News/NVIDIA
AI’s Fortress of Solitude: OpenAI picks Arctic Norway for $1B data center
OpenAI has chosen Narvik, Norway—a remote Arctic location—over traditional European tech hubs for its $1 billion Project Stargate data center, which will house 100,000 Nvidia GPUs by 2026. The surprising location choice prioritizes Norway's abundant hydropower and low electricity costs, positioning the facility to become one of Europe's largest AI infrastructure installations with 520MW capacity. What you should know: OpenAI partnered with AI infrastructure firm Nscale and Norwegian industrial company Aker to build what they're calling an "AI Gigafactory" in Northern Norway. The initial 20MW phase requires roughly $1 billion in investment, with plans to scale to 520MW capacity. The...
read Aug 6, 2025Nvidia rejects U.S. demands for AI chip backdoors and kill switches
Nvidia has rejected U.S. government demands to include backdoors and kill switches in its AI chips, with the company's chief security officer publishing a blog post calling such measures "an open invitation for disaster." The pushback comes as bipartisan lawmakers consider legislation requiring tracking technology in AI chips, while Chinese officials have alleged that backdoors already exist in Nvidia's hardware sold in China. What you should know: Nvidia's stance directly opposes the proposed Chip Security Act, which would mandate security measures including potential remote kill switches. The bipartisan bill introduced in May would require Nvidia and other manufacturers to include...
read Aug 5, 2025ASUS and NVIDIA unveil desktop AI supercomputers with 784GB memory
ASUS and NVIDIA have unveiled a new class of AI desktop supercomputers featuring the NVIDIA Grace Blackwell superchips, including the ASUS ExpertCenter Pro ET900N G3 desktop and the ultra-compact ASUS Ascent GX10 mini-PC. These systems address the "last mile" challenge in AI computing by delivering data center-level performance in desktop form factors, with the ExpertCenter Pro offering up to 784GB of GPU memory and the palm-sized Ascent GX10 providing up to 1,000 AI TOPS of processing power. The big picture: Traditional consumer graphics cards like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 with 32GB of VRAM can handle smaller AI models, but...
read Aug 4, 2025No right to repair: China’s underground shops fix thousands of banned Nvidia AI chips monthly
A thriving underground repair industry has emerged in China focused on fixing Nvidia's banned AI chips, with around a dozen Shenzhen-based firms claiming to service thousands of H100 and A100 graphics processing units (GPUs) monthly despite strict US export controls. This shadow economy highlights the persistent demand for high-end AI hardware in China and raises questions about the long-term viability of aging smuggled chips operating without official support. What you should know: Small repair shops are processing massive volumes of restricted Nvidia chips that officially cannot be sold or serviced in China. One company repairs up to 500 Nvidia AI...
read Aug 4, 2025AMD’s $1.2K R9700 GPU challenges Nvidia in professional AI computing market
AMD's latest professional graphics card has arrived with serious firepower for AI workloads, and major manufacturers are racing to deliver their own versions. The Radeon AI Pro R9700 represents the chip giant's most powerful GPU to date, designed specifically for artificial intelligence training, scientific computing, and high-end rendering tasks that demand sustained performance under intensive workloads. Unlike consumer graphics cards optimized for gaming, professional GPUs like the R9700 prioritize reliability, memory capacity, and multi-card scalability over peak gaming performance. This matters because AI training and scientific simulation often require cards to run at maximum capacity for days or weeks without...
read Aug 1, 2025China summons Nvidia over H20 chip backdoor concerns
Beijing has summoned Nvidia to address concerns that its H20 AI chips contain backdoors, following a US proposal to add tracking capabilities to advanced semiconductors sold overseas. This marks China's latest countermeasure in the escalating tech rivalry, as both nations increasingly weaponize national security concerns around AI and semiconductor technologies. What you should know: The Nvidia meeting comes after the Trump administration recently reversed a Biden-era ban, allowing the company to export H20 chips to China. Jensen Huang's company had lost billions in sales due to the previous restrictions, making China's approval crucial for Nvidia's business. Huang recently completed a...
read Jul 30, 2025Nvidia CEO reviews all 42,000 employee salaries using machine learning
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang personally reviews the salaries of all 42,000 company employees at the end of every compensation cycle, using machine learning to help process the data. The hands-on approach reflects his philosophy that taking care of employees drives overall business success—a strategy that has helped create multiple billionaires on his management team as Nvidia has become the world's most valuable company. What you should know: Huang dismissed rumors about a secret stock option pool but confirmed his comprehensive approach to employee compensation.• "I review everybody's compensation, up to this day, at the end of every cycle," Huang said...
read Jul 29, 2025Positron raises $51.6M to challenge Nvidia with 5x more efficient AI chips
Positron, a private AI chip startup, has raised $51.6 million in Series A funding to challenge Nvidia's dominance in AI inference chips with its Atlas hardware platform. The company claims its specialized inference accelerators deliver 2x to 5x better performance per watt and dollar compared to Nvidia's solutions, targeting enterprises seeking more efficient AI deployment without requiring liquid cooling or extreme power densities. What you should know: Positron's Atlas chip is already shipping and in production just 15 months after the company's founding, with confirmed deployments at major enterprises including Cloudflare, a security and cloud content networking provider, and across...
read Jul 29, 2025Malaysia builds $2.36B green-powered AI infrastructure with Nvidia
Malaysia has partnered with Nvidia and YTL Power International in a RM10 billion ($2.36 billion) initiative to establish green-powered AI infrastructure and develop the nation's own sovereign large language model. The collaboration positions Malaysia as a strategic AI hub in Southeast Asia while advancing the country's digital sovereignty ambitions through sustainable technology deployment. What you should know: The partnership will create AI data centers powered entirely by renewable energy sources and deploy Nvidia's high-performance GPU technology across Malaysia. Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz confirmed the initiative includes developing Malaysia's own sovereign LLM to strengthen...
read Jul 25, 2025SoftBank deploys world’s largest AI system with 4,000 Nvidia GPUs
SoftBank has deployed what it claims is the world's largest artificial intelligence computing system, installing more than 4,000 of Nvidia's most advanced Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs) in a massive infrastructure expansion that signals Japan's aggressive push into the global AI race. The Japanese telecommunications giant's new system delivers 13.7 exaflops of computing power—roughly equivalent to performing 13.7 quintillion calculations per second. To put that in perspective, this represents more raw computational horsepower than most national supercomputing centers, positioning SoftBank as a major player in the infrastructure arms race powering today's AI revolution. This deployment isn't just about impressive numbers....
read Jul 22, 2025xAI seeks $12B to buy Nvidia chips for Grok mecha-expansion
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI is working to raise up to $12 billion in new funding through investment firm Valor Equity Partners, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The massive capital raise would fuel xAI's expansion plans, specifically to purchase advanced Nvidia chips for a new data center designed to train and power its AI chatbot Grok. Key details: Valor Equity Partners, an investment firm led by founder Antonio Gracias who maintains close ties to Musk, is negotiating with lenders to secure the funding. The $12 billion would be used to acquire a substantial supply of advanced Nvidia...
read Jul 22, 20257 AI infrastructure stocks positioned for the boom beyond NVIDIA
The artificial intelligence boom has created a complex investment landscape where traditional tech giants compete alongside specialized infrastructure providers and emerging players across the entire AI value chain. Understanding where to allocate capital requires recognizing that AI's exponential growth demands massive investments in computing power, energy infrastructure, and specialized components that extend far beyond software companies. Smart investors are positioning themselves across multiple layers of the AI ecosystem, from the semiconductors that power machine learning to the data centers that house them. This approach recognizes that AI's infrastructure requirements create opportunities across industries that might not immediately appear connected to...
read Jul 21, 2025Act now, Nvidia warns Chinese customers, as H20 AI chip supplies are limited
Nvidia has warned Chinese customers that supplies of its H20 artificial intelligence chip are severely limited, creating uncertainty for China's major technology companies that depend on these processors for their AI development programs. The warning comes as the U.S. government delays issuing new export licenses that would allow the American chipmaker to resume sales to Chinese clients. The H20 represents Nvidia's most advanced AI processor currently approved for sale in China—a specially designed version of the company's flagship chips that complies with U.S. export restrictions while still providing substantial computing power for machine learning applications. These processors serve as the...
read Jul 15, 2025Nvidia to resume H20 AI chip sales to China, eyeing $15-20B revenue
Nvidia will resume sales of H20 AI chips to China after CEO Jensen Huang met with President Donald Trump, with Chinese firms already rushing to place orders for the restricted processors. The move could generate $15 billion to $20 billion in additional revenue for Nvidia this year, marking a significant shift in US-China technology relations after the chips were effectively banned in April. What you should know: Nvidia expects to receive US government licenses soon to restart shipments of H20 chips, which represent the company's most capable AI processors legally available in China. The US government has assured Nvidia that...
read Jul 15, 2025Broadcom’s Tomahawk Ultra chip connects 4x more AI processors than Nvidia
Broadcom has launched the Tomahawk Ultra networking chip, designed to accelerate AI data processing by connecting hundreds of chips within data centers. The processor directly challenges Nvidia's dominance in AI infrastructure, offering four times the connectivity capacity of Nvidia's competing NVLink Switch chip while using enhanced ethernet protocols instead of proprietary systems. Why this matters: The chip represents Broadcom's strategic push to compete with Nvidia in the lucrative AI hardware market, particularly as companies like Google seek alternatives to Nvidia's graphics processors for AI workloads. Key technical advantages: The Tomahawk Ultra serves as a traffic controller for data moving between...
read Jul 14, 2025China plans to deploy 115K banned Nvidia AI chips despite U.S. restrictions
Chinese companies are planning to deploy approximately 115,000 restricted Nvidia AI chips across dozens of data centers in Xinjiang, despite U.S. export bans that have prohibited such sales since 2022. The ambitious infrastructure project highlights China's determination to build AI computing capacity using banned semiconductors, though U.S. officials and Nvidia question whether such large-scale smuggling operations are feasible. What you should know: The data center plans center around Xinjiang's energy advantages and a massive government-backed computing facility. Around 70% of the planned computing power is concentrated in a single compound backed by the Xinjiang regional government, likely the "converged computing...
read Jul 11, 2025Nvidia CEO sounds off as 41% of execs plan to cut workers due to AI automation by 2030
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang warned that artificial intelligence could lead to job losses "if the world runs out of ideas," despite AI's potential to boost workplace productivity. His comments come as industry leaders debate whether AI will create mass unemployment, with Anthropic's CEO predicting AI could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs and spike unemployment to 20% within five years. What they're saying: Huang emphasized that innovation is key oto maintaining employment alongside AI-driven productivity gains. "If the world runs out of ideas, then productivity gains translates to job loss," Huang told CNN's Fareed Zakaria. "The fundamental thing is this,...
read Jul 11, 2025Indonesia launches AI Center of Excellence with NVIDIA and Cisco to build sovereign capabilities
Indonesia has launched an AI Center of Excellence in partnership with NVIDIA, Cisco, and telecommunications leader Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison to advance the nation's sovereign AI capabilities. The initiative, led by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs, aims to foster local AI research, develop indigenous talent, and drive innovation through collaboration with startups as part of Indonesia's "Golden 2045 Vision" for digital transformation. What you should know: The AI Center of Excellence will feature comprehensive infrastructure and training programs designed to make Indonesia an AI creator rather than just a consumer. A new NVIDIA AI Technology Center will provide research...
read Jul 10, 2025Jensen Huang is meeting with Trump amid chip export controls, stellar Nvidia valuation
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, as the AI chipmaker becomes the first company to close a trading day with a market cap exceeding $4 trillion. The high-profile meeting comes amid ongoing tensions over export controls on Nvidia's AI chips that the Trump administration implemented in April, which have effectively cut off the company's access to China's lucrative semiconductor market. What you should know: Nvidia achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first company to close above a $4 trillion market valuation, surpassing Apple and Microsoft. The company's stock rose...
read Jul 10, 2025Intel CEO admits company no longer a top 10 semiconductor player
Intel's new CEO Lip-Bu Tan has bluntly told employees that the company is no longer among the top 10 semiconductor companies globally, marking a stark acknowledgment of the chipmaker's declining position in an industry it once dominated. The candid assessment comes as Intel faces mounting pressure from rivals like Nvidia, AMD, and Apple, while grappling with layoffs and concerns about its upcoming manufacturing technology. What they're saying: Tan delivered the sobering assessment during a video broadcast to Intel employees worldwide, pulling no punches about the company's current standing. "Twenty, 30 years ago, we are really the leader," he said. "Now...
read Jul 10, 2025Amazon builds custom liquid cooling for Nvidia’s (literally) hottest AI chips
Amazon Web Services has developed its own in-house liquid cooling solution called In-Row Heat Exchangers (IHRX) to address the cooling requirements of Nvidia's next-generation AI chips, particularly the Blackwell series. The move allows Amazon to upgrade its existing data center infrastructure without the time and cost of building new facilities, positioning the company to deploy more advanced AI chips while maintaining its competitive edge in cloud computing. What you should know: Nvidia's latest AI chips generate significantly more heat than previous generations, requiring liquid cooling rather than traditional air cooling systems. The Blackwell chips and newer models run so hot...
read Jul 9, 2025Hats off! Nvidia becomes first company to hit $4T market cap
Nvidia hit a $4 trillion market cap on Wednesday, becoming the first company ever to reach this milestone. The chipmaker's stock jumped more than 2% as investors continue betting on the company's dominance in the generative AI hardware market, cementing its position as the world's most valuable company ahead of Microsoft and Apple. The big picture: Nvidia's meteoric rise reflects the explosive demand for AI infrastructure since ChatGPT's launch in late 2022, with the company establishing itself as the decisive leader in graphics processing units that power large language models. Graphics processing units (GPUs) are specialized computer chips originally designed...
read Jul 9, 2025Samsung profits plummet 56%, though stock is up, as company struggles to win Nvidia AI chip deals
Samsung Electronics expects second-quarter operating profits to plummet 56% to 4.6 trillion won as the South Korean tech giant struggles to capture demand from AI chip leader Nvidia. The disappointing forecast, which fell short of analyst expectations by nearly 27%, highlights Samsung's difficulty competing with rivals like SK Hynix and Micron in the crucial high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip market that powers AI applications. What you should know: Samsung's projected earnings represent a significant miss compared to analyst forecasts and reflect deeper structural challenges in the AI chip supply chain. Operating profit is expected to drop to 4.6 trillion won ($3.36...
read Jul 7, 2025Chic meets geek as L’Oréal partners with Nvidia to scale AI across beauty operations
L'Oréal has announced a major partnership with Nvidia to supercharge its generative AI capabilities across its business operations, joining Nvidia's AI Enterprise microservices ecosystem. This collaboration positions the world's largest cosmetics company to leverage AI for everything from 3D product visualizations to personalized marketing, potentially reshaping how beauty brands design, market, and sell their products. What you should know: L'Oréal's partnership with Nvidia will scale its CreAItech Generative AI platform, which creates visualizations and assets from product models to reduce creative team workload. The collaboration enables automated design and rendering of images and 3D models for marketing and research purposes,...
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