According to Reuters, the release of Nvidia’s new artificial intelligence chip Blackwell may be delayed by three months or more due to design flaws. According to people involved in Nvidia’s chip and server hardware production, the delay will have a significant impact on Nvidia’s important customers, including Meta Platforms, Google and Microsoft, which have pre-ordered Blackwell chips worth tens of billions of dollars.
In the face of this unexpected situation, an Nvidia spokesperson issued a statement via email: “As we have said before, demand for Hopper is very strong, extensive sampling of Blackwell has begun, and we expect production to gradually increase in the second half of the year.” The statement attempted to ease market concerns about Nvidia’s production capabilities, but did not directly address the specific reasons and timeline for the release delay.
Microsoft said it had no more information to add at this time, while Meta and Google have not yet responded to requests for comment. However, “The Information” quoted a Microsoft employee and another person familiar with the matter as saying that Nvidia has notified Microsoft and another major cloud service provider this week that production of its most advanced Blackwell series of AI chips will be delayed. This news undoubtedly pours cold water on customers who are looking forward to new chips to accelerate the development of AI applications.
As the leader in the global AI chip market, NVIDIA’s delayed release of its Blackwell chip not only affects its own production plans, but may also have a knock-on effect on the entire AI chip market. Cloud computing service providers that rely on Nvidia chips may need to adjust project plans or find alternatives to deal with uncertainty in chip supply.At the same time, this incident may also prompt other technology giants to speed up the research and development of their own AI chips to reduce dependence on a single supplier.
Post time: Aug-08-2024
