Nvidia Arm: An Artificial Intelligence Angle. Oh, Maybe a Monopoly Play Too?
September 14, 2020
As the claims, rumors, and outrage about Nvidia’s alleged acquisition of ARM swirl, DarkCyber noted an interesting story in ExtremeTech. “Nvidia Buys ARM for $40 Billion, Plans New AI Research Center” states:
According to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang,
We are joining arms with Arm to create the leading computing company for the age of AI. AI is the most powerful technology force of our time. Learning from data, AI supercomputers can write software no human can. Amazingly, AI software can perceive its environment, infer the best plan, and act intelligently. This new form of software will expand computing to every corner of the globe. Someday, trillions of computers running AI will create a new internet — the internet-of-things — thousands of times bigger than today’s internet-of-people. In the same letter, Jensen notes that Nvidia will build a “world-class” AI center in Cambridge, where a state-of-the-art ARM-based supercomputer will conduct research. [Emphasis added by DarkCyber]
Assume the deal goes through. Assume Nvidia creates a new AI research center. Are there some implications of this type of move? Who knows, but it is often helpful to identify some potential downstream consequences:
- Nvidia becomes the de facto supplier of silicon for supercomputers
- Amazon, already keen on Nvidia, ramps up its efforts to boost Sagemaker and allied technologies in the AWS environment
- Google and Microsoft have to do some thinking about their approach to next-generation silicon
- IBM may be inspired to do more than issue Intel style news releases about creating stable silicon using fabrication techniques outside their competencies at this time
- Chinese and China-allied semiconductor companies will have to shift into a higher gear and amp up their marketing
Will the deal, if it takes place, create the semiconductor equivalent of a Facebook monopoly?
That’s a possibility. Those US regulators are on the job, ever vigilant, just like those on Wall Street.
Stephen E Arnold, September 17, 2020
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