Nvidia Debuts New Version of A100 GPU for Supercomputers

At the beginning of its SC20 supercomputing conference, Nvidia unveiled its 80GB version of the A100 GPU (graphics processing unit) based on its Ampere graphics architecture and aimed at AI and graphics for supercomputing. The chip is intended to enable faster real-time data analysis for business and government applications. This new version doubles the memory of the predecessor, debuted six months ago. Nvidia executive Paresh Kharya noted that 90 percent of the world’s data was created in the last two years. Continue reading Nvidia Debuts New Version of A100 GPU for Supercomputers

The New Mac Lineup Touts Apple’s Own Powerful M1 Chips

Apple unveiled a new M1 microchip, designed in-house, which chief executive Tim Cook said is “by far the most powerful chip that we have ever created.” Aimed at offering faster performance and longer battery life, the company said that the M1 integrated into the new super-thin MacBook Air (priced starting at $999) will run 3.5 times faster than the past generation. Without a fan, the device will run silently. The M1 will also be installed in a 13-inch MacBook Pro, starting at $1,299, and the Mac mini, starting at $699. Continue reading The New Mac Lineup Touts Apple’s Own Powerful M1 Chips

Increasing Demand for 5G Lifts Qualcomm Earnings, Revenue

A major supplier of 5G chips, Qualcomm predicted shipments of 450 million to 550 million 5G smartphones in 2021, a number at least double of what’s expected by the end of this year. Chief executive Steve Mollenkopf revealed that sales of smartphones was a significant part of the company’s latest quarterly earnings. He also noted that Qualcomm is already seeing benefits from Internet of Things devices and networking gear using 5G chips. In addition, Apple’s 5G-enabled iPhone 12 is expected to be a boon for Qualcomm’s modems. Continue reading Increasing Demand for 5G Lifts Qualcomm Earnings, Revenue

AMD Acquires Xilinx: Opens Door for 5G, Data Center Chips

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) agreed to pay $35 billion in stock to acquire Xilinx, which will enable it to diversify into chips for 5G wireless communications and automotive electronics. The company, which has some of the strongest sales in its 51-year history, has traditionally been Intel’s rival for computer chips. With Xilnix, AMD could also provide components for data centers and compete with Nvidia in that space. The all-stock deal is still topped by Nvidia’s plan to purchase UK chipmaker Arm for $40 billion. Continue reading AMD Acquires Xilinx: Opens Door for 5G, Data Center Chips

Facebook Streams Free-to-Play Games via Its Cloud Service

After beta-testing with 200,000 users, Facebook debuted a cloud gaming service for Android and the web, providing smaller free-to-play games such as “Asphalt 9: Legends,” “PGA TOUR Golf Shootout,” “Solitaire: Arthur’s Tale” and “Mobile Legends: Adventure.” Over time, the social media giant plans to add more games, which can be found in its Gaming section. In conjunction and to remind people about the new games, Facebook is also introducing “cloud playable ads,” derived from games’ native code. Continue reading Facebook Streams Free-to-Play Games via Its Cloud Service

BlueField-2: Nvidia Debuts Data Center Services Accelerator

In his keynote address at the GPU Technology Conference (GTC), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that the company shipped more than one billion GPUs and its CUDA software development kit had six million downloads thus far in 2020. He revealed 80 new SDKs and 1,800 GPU-accelerated applications are available. The company also unveiled its BlueField-2, a powerful data center services accelerator. GTC was expected to draw 30,000 global attendees this week for more than 1,000 sessions and coincides with the Arm DevSummit, which features a chat between Huang and Arm chief executive Simon Segars. Continue reading BlueField-2: Nvidia Debuts Data Center Services Accelerator

Nvidia Intros Open Beta of Its Omniverse Virtual Environment

In his keynote address at Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference, chief executive Jensen Huang demonstrated Omniverse, a virtual environment described as a “metaverse” for engineers, announcing an open beta. With Omniverse — which was inspired by the sci-fi concept of the metaverse — engineers can collaborate on and simulate designs in a photoreal 3D virtual environment. Nvidia has been providing early access to Omniverse for 18 months; it will be available for download this fall. Continue reading Nvidia Intros Open Beta of Its Omniverse Virtual Environment

With Arm Purchase, Nvidia May Dominate AI Edge Computing

Moore’s Law — Intel co-founder Gordon Moore’s prediction that the number of transistors on a chip doubles about every two years — has been the foundation of the semiconductor industry. But, as the industry nears the limits of circuitry and physics of electronics, it’s being replaced by another one: that silicon chips powering AI more than double in power every two years, due to hardware and software. As Moore’s Law was the foundation for improvements in computers, this new law will power the Internet of Things. With its $40 billion acquisition of Arm Holdings, Nvidia could be positioned for a new type of evolution.  Continue reading With Arm Purchase, Nvidia May Dominate AI Edge Computing

Nvidia Acquisition of SoftBank’s Arm Brings Rewards, Risks

Nvidia agreed to pay $40 billion — $21.5 billion in stock, $12 billion in cash — for SoftBank’s Arm division, a chip designer based in the United Kingdom. Nvidia will pay $2 billion on signing, and SoftBank will also receive $5 billion in cash or stock should Arm’s performance meet specific standards. Arm employees will receive $1.5 billion in Nvidia stock. This will be the biggest semiconductor industry deal since SoftBank paid $31.4+ billion to purchase Arm in 2016. The deal will also increase competition between Nvidia and Intel. Continue reading Nvidia Acquisition of SoftBank’s Arm Brings Rewards, Risks

Apple Reveals a Number of Changes to Its App Store Rules

In response to complaints from developers, Apple tweaked rules surrounding in-app purchases for iPhone and iPad games that stream directly from the Internet. The company is not changing the 15 to 30 percent fees for app downloads, in-app purchases and subscriptions — a major bone of contention for many developers — but is applying the fees to fewer situations. This change and several others, however, does not impact the existing legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, and Epic chief executive Tim Sweeney criticized Apple’s latest move. Continue reading Apple Reveals a Number of Changes to Its App Store Rules

Nvidia Purchase of Arm Signals Inflection Point in Computing

If Nvidia acquires Arm Ltd. in the next few weeks, which many experts predict will happen, the company may be in the position to dominate the next computing ecosystem. Jefferies semiconductor analyst Mark Lipacis notes that, the computer industry goes through a “strategic inflection point” every 15 years, with research showing that dominant players in each era account for 80 percent of the profits. Different ecosystems are the result of “multi-pronged” strategy by those companies that come out on top. Continue reading Nvidia Purchase of Arm Signals Inflection Point in Computing

Nvidia Debuts GeForce RTX Chip Series with Lower Latency

Nvidia debuted its 28-billion transistor Ampere-based 30 Series graphics chips for PC gamers, ideal for Microsoft and Sony’s next-generation consoles to unveil by the holidays. The 30 Series GeForce RTX chips (available September 17) are comprised of the RTX 3070 ($500), 3080 ($700), and 3090 ($1,500), with second generation RTX (real-time ray tracing graphics). According to chief executive Jensen Huang, there are “hundreds of RTX games” in development, joining “Minecraft,” “Control” and “Wolfenstein: Youngblood,” which already feature RTX. Continue reading Nvidia Debuts GeForce RTX Chip Series with Lower Latency

Equinix Invites Companies to Test-Drive AI System at LA IBX

Data center and colocation provider Equinix is inviting companies to test-drive the NVIDIA DGX A100 system at its International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Los Angeles (the company currently has more than 200 IBX centers in 52 markets). This site is currently the only place in the world where companies can take advantage of the DGX A100 to test drive their AI equipment. According to the Equinix testbed landing page, “The test drive solution brings together industry-leading AI hardware from NVIDIA and NetApp alongside best-in-class software technology from Core Scientific, all directly connected on Platform Equinix.” Continue reading Equinix Invites Companies to Test-Drive AI System at LA IBX

Webinar: Experts Discuss Accelerating AI PaaS for Enterprise

As enterprises infuse their business with the power of AI, many are challenged with how to support experimentation and innovation within an IT platform that is manageable and delivers the right resources and performance from prototype to production. Data scientists want a simple, productive workflow that supports rapid iteration, and IT teams want an enterprise-grade platform that scales cost-effectively. AI Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) brings these worlds together with the simplicity of cloud and the performance of dedicated infrastructure, now available as a robust, cost-effective and scalable managed service. On August 25 at 8:00 am PST, experts from Equinix, NetApp, NVIDIA and Core Scientific will discuss the benefits of AI PaaS offerings for the enterprise. Registration is available online. Continue reading Webinar: Experts Discuss Accelerating AI PaaS for Enterprise

Quality of Deepfakes and Textfakes Increase Potential Impact

FireEye data scientist Philip Tully showed off a convincing deepfake of Tom Hanks he built with less than $100 and open-source code. Until recently, most deepfakes have been low quality and pretty easy to spot. FireEye demonstrated that now, even those with little AI expertise can use published AI code and a bit of fine-tuning to create much more convincing results. But many experts believe deepfake text is a bigger threat, as the GPT-3 autoregressive language model can produce text that is difficult to distinguish from that written by humans. Continue reading Quality of Deepfakes and Textfakes Increase Potential Impact