Alexander Lewis 
Mar 19, 2024
At a key event hosted in a Silicon Valley hockey arena, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang took centre stage at the company's annual developer conference, making a series of bold announcements to strengthen Nvidia's dominance in the artificial intelligence industry.
The event, keenly awaited by tech enthusiasts and experts alike, saw Huang unveil Nvidia's latest chip innovation. This new chip promises an impressive 30-fold speed increase for certain tasks over its predecessor. Alongside this, Nvidia also introduced a range of software tools designed to help developers integrate AI models more effectively into businesses that use Nvidia’s technology, including many major tech companies.
Nvidia's showcase at GTC 2024 is crucial, as it is integral to maintaining its strong 80% hold on the AI chip market. Huang, known for his distinctive leather jacket and engaging presentation style, humorously noted that despite the mathematical and scientific depth of the keynote, it was not a concert. This comment highlighted Nvidia’s transformation from a gaming-focused entity to a formidable competitor against tech giants like Microsoft and Apple.
Nvidia B200
The spotlight was on Nvidia’s newest flagship chip, the B200, which ingeniously combines two silicon squares into one, offering exceptional performance for tasks like chatbot interactions. Yet, detailed information on its capabilities in data-heavy tasks, crucial to Nvidia's surging sales, remained undisclosed.
While Huang's revelations were highly anticipated, they didn't significantly impact Nvidia’s already high-flying stock, which has seen a 240% increase over the past year, making it one of the most valuable companies in the US stock market. Post-announcement, Nvidia’s shares saw a slight decline in extended trading, reflecting a complex market reaction, echoed in minor stock drops for associated companies like Super Micro Computer and Advanced Micro Devices.
Nvidia expects major tech firms, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Oracle, to adopt the new chip in their cloud-computing services, highlighting its crucial role in future AI infrastructure development.
Nvidia also showcased its software development expertise, unveiling microservices to improve system efficiency across various applications and special software for 3-D modelling. These developments are supported by partnerships with leading design software companies.
Furthermore, Nvidia is expanding into automotive chips with advanced features like onboard chatbots and is collaborating with Chinese car manufacturers, demonstrating its versatile approach to innovation and technology.
