Chip off the new block… Meet the H200. Yesterday, Nvidia introduced the latest evolution of its best-selling AI chip. Nvidia said the H200 is designed to handle the “massive amounts of data” needed for genAI (picture: more memory and faster output than its OG A100 chips). Nvidia said tech titans like Amazon, Google, and Oracle plan to use the newer chip by next year. Excitement over Nvidia’s AI processors has supercharged the company’s valuation, pushing its market cap past the trillion-dollar mark.
Salty relations… The US gov’t has cracked down on semiconductor exports to China this year as concerns about the chips’ possible use in military tech pile up. Last month, President Biden reinforced AI export restrictions, mandating special licenses for shipping advanced chips to dozens of countries. The restrictions also blocked Nvidia from selling its less advanced H800 chips to China-based businesses.
Chinese tech giants Alibaba, Baidu, ByteDance, and Tencent are said to have ordered a combined $5B worth of A800s. Losing China would be a big blow: now, Nvidia’s reportedly working on (another) less advanced China-specific chip.
Walking the line takes finesse… As of August, Nvidia accounted for a whopping 70% of the world’s AI chip sales. But as a US company, it has to comply with US regulations while it tries to meet soaring global demand. Restrictions on exports to China could hurt Nvidia’s biz (for example, if it needs to cancel billions worth of orders). But thanks to the cushion of US demand, Nvidia expects its fourth-quarter sales to more than double to $16B.