Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiled new software and services aimed at spreading artificial intelligence computing throughout the economy, a movement that he describes as a new industrial revolution.
The company — now best known for its AI accelerator chips in data centres — introduced new tools and software models on the eve of the Computex trade show in Taiwan. Nvidia expects to play a major role in the new category of AI PCs, the CEO said in a keynote address at National Taiwan University.
Nvidia has been the main beneficiary of a massive flood of AI spending, helping turn the company into the world’s most valuable chip maker. But it now looks to broaden its customer base beyond the handful of cloud computing giants that generate much of its sales. As part of the expansion, Huang expects a larger swathe of companies and government agencies to embrace AI — everyone from shipbuilders to drug developers. He returned to themes he set out a year ago at the same venue, including the idea that those without AI capabilities will be left behind.
“We are seeing computation inflation,” Huang said on Sunday. As the amount of data that needs to be processed grows exponentially, traditional computing methods cannot keep up and it’s only through Nvidia’s style of accelerated computing that we can cut back the costs, Huang said. He touted 98% cost savings and 97% less energy required with Nvidia’s technology, saying that constituted “CEO math, which is not accurate, but it is correct”.
Nvidia got its start selling gaming cards for desktop PCs, and that background is coming into play as computer makers push to add more AI functions to their machines.
Microsoft and its hardware partners are using Computex to show off new laptops with AI enhancements under the branding of Copilot+. The majority of those devices coming to market are based on a new type of processor that will enable them to go longer on one battery charge, provided by Nvidia rival Qualcomm.
Pre-trained AI models
While those devices are good for simple AI functionality, adding an Nvidia graphics card will massively increase their performance and bring new features to popular software like games, Nvidia said. PC makers such as Asustek Computer are offering such computers, the company said.
To help software makers bring more new capabilities to the PC, Nvidia is offering tools and pre-trained AI models. They will handle complex tasks, such as deciding whether to crunch data on the machine itself or send it out to a data centre over the internet.
Separately, Nvidia is releasing a new design for server computers built on its chips. The MGX programme is used by companies such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise Cand Dell Technologies to allow them to get to market faster with products that are used by corporations and government agencies. Even rivals AMD and Intel are taking advantage of the design with servers that put their processors alongside Nvidia chips.
Earlier-announced products, such as Spectrum X for networking and Nvidia Inference Microservices — or NIM, which Huang called “AI in a box” — are now generally available and being widely adopted, the company said. It’s also going to offer free access to the NIM products. The microservices are a set of intermediate software and models that help companies roll out AI services more quickly, without having to worry about the underlying technology. Companies that deploy them then have to pay Nvidia a usage fee.
Huang also promoted the use of digital twins in a virtual world that Nvidia calls the omniverse. To show the scale possible, he showed a digital twin of planet Earth, called Earth 2, and how it can help conduct more sophisticated weather pattern modelling and other complex tasks. He noted that Taiwan-based contract manufacturers such as Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn, are using the tools to make plans and operate their factories more efficiently. — Ian King and Jane Lanhee Lee, (c) 2024 Bloomberg LP
