Under the wave of generative AI, the attention to COMPUTEX (Taipei International Computer Show) this year has skyrocketed.
On the evening of June 2nd, on the eve of the opening of COMPUTEX 2024, Huang Renxun, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, gave the first speech. Huang, the leader of the sect, still appeared in a black leather suit, and his speech focused on computational science and artificial intelligence, full of a technological geek vibe.
On the most highly anticipated chip products, Huang Renxun revealed the next generation GPU architecture Rubin and announced the launch of Rubin and Blackwell Ultra GPUs, as well as the latest Vera CPU.
From the code name, both Vera and Rubin are named after American astronomer Vera Rubin. It is understood that she is a pioneer in studying the rotation speed of galaxies, making groundbreaking work and making significant contributions to the understanding of dark matter in the universe.
In March of this year, Nvidia just released the Blackwell GPU architecture platform, and now it has officially announced the next generation architecture Rubin. Following the planned AI blueprint, Nvidia is accelerating and will update its products once a year, usually every two years.
Currently, Blackwell architecture GPU products are in production and will become an important revenue driver for 2024 and 2025. According to a research report by JPMorgan Chase, Nvidia is expected to maintain growth in the second quarter, mainly due to sustained spending from customers on AI/accelerated computing plans, as well as strong demand for its Hopper H100 and new H200 GPU platforms (Blackwell GB200/B200/B100). It is expected that the new products related to Blackwell will undergo initial production and shipment in the third quarter, and achieve large-scale shipment in the fourth quarter.
Next, Nvidia plans to release an enhanced version of Blackwell Ultra GPU (8S HBM3e 12H), expected to be launched in 2025.
The next generation Rubin GPU (8S HBM4) and corresponding platform will be launched in 2026, followed by the Rubin Ultra GPU (12S HBM4) version in 2027.
Nvidia has already launched the Grace CPU in its CPU products. While upgrading Grace CPU, Nvidia also confirmed the next generation CPU platform Vera CPU.
In Huang Renxun's view, there have been 2-3 major technological transformations in the field of computing over the past 60 years, and now we will see it happen again. "A new era of computing is beginning," and the driving force behind this industrial transformation is precisely AI.
JPMorgan Chase's recent research report also pointed out that in the long run, Nvidia continues to maintain a 1-2 step pace ahead of its competitors in chip, hardware, and software platforms, and has a strong ecosystem (4 million CUDA software developers). Through an active pace of new product releases and more product segmentation, Nvidia has further widened its distance from its competitors.
From the overall business line of Nvidia, in addition to the high demand for data center GPUs, multiple institutions expect that the demand for PC games will become the driving force for revenue in the PC field. Although the PC OEM market is declining and the first half of the year is not a peak season, strong demand for PC games will make up for these impacts.
In his speech, Huang Renxun also mentioned several new RTX laptops with generative AI capabilities. An interesting detail is that on site, when he picked up the GeForce RTX Super graphics card and stood next to the DGX data center rack, the difference in size was clear. Huang Renxun pointed to the large rack and said, "We think this is a GPU, this is the real GPU."
This is also consistent with the current revenue share of Nvidia. Currently, Nvidia's data center business has accounted for nearly 90%, surpassing the revenue of PC consumer graphics cards. Of course, the definition of GPU is also constantly expanding, and it is no longer just a concept of graphical computing. It has truly become the strongest engine of AI, leading Nvidia to climb to a market value of $2.7 trillion.
In addition, Nvidia also announced updates in areas such as communication and software. For example, its Spectra-X Ethernet network platform has been widely used in the industry and will accelerate new product launch plans; 28 million developers worldwide can now download NVIDIA NIM inference microservices.
In terms of AI industry supply chain, Taiwan, China has many technology leaders. Last week, Huang Renxun not only gathered with TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou, MediaTek chairman Cai Mingjie, and Guangda chairman Lin Baili, but also invited more than ten executives from the Taiwanese industry chain to a dinner party.
According to media reports, these tech giants include Hon Hai Chairman Liu Yangwei, Asus Chairman Shi Chongtang, Asus Chairman Tong Zixian, Yingyeda General Manager Cai Zhi'an, Weichuang General Manager Lin Jianxun, Yunda Technology General Manager Yang Qiling, and more, almost covering PC and server supply chain giants.
Although data centers are still the focus of Huang Renxun's speech on promoting products today, another focus on the COMPUTEX arena this year is AI PC. With the official opening of the conference on June 3rd, chip giants will also appear one after another at the conference, and there will be more new developments in PC chips in the future.