Nvidia, the world’s leading chipmaker, has announced a delay in the release of its much-anticipated “Blackwell” B-200 artificial intelligence chip.
This postponement has cast a shadow over the near-term future of the AI industry, raising concerns about potential setbacks.
According to sources reported by tech news outlet The Information, including a Microsoft employee, the new chip’s launch has been pushed back by at least three months due to a design flaw.
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang recently mentioned that engineering samples would be available starting July 31 at the SIGGRAPH event in Denver, Colorado. However, this timeline is now uncertain.
The delay’s impact on Nvidia’s B-100 series, which shares similar architecture with the B-200, remains unclear.
The B-200 chip is expected to deliver superior performance, making its postponement particularly significant.
Analysts project that Nvidia’s B-series AI chips could generate hundreds of billions of dollars in sales, with major tech companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft being key buyers.
Nvidia’s ability to meet this demand is crucial not only for its revenues but also for the overall AI sector.
Nvidia’s market position is formidable, with a $2.6 trillion market capitalization.
Its nearest competitor in the semiconductor industry, TSMC, has a market cap of $777 billion. TSMC, which fabricates many of Nvidia’s chips, plays a vital role in this dynamic.
In the U.S., Nvidia faces little competition. Although companies like Microsoft and Google are developing their own AI chips, Nvidia remains the dominant player.
Rival chipmakers such as Intel and AMD have yet to establish a significant presence in the generative AI market, despite their efforts to pivot towards AI services.
The tech industry has experienced a tough second quarter in 2024.
Most top tech companies, including Nvidia, have seen a decline in market capitalization month-over-month, with only Tesla and Apple bucking the trend. Despite Nvidia’s record stock highs earlier this year, investor confidence appears to be wavering.
Elliott Management, a hedge fund firm, recently warned investors that Nvidia might be entering “bubble territory.” They criticized current generative AI applications as costly, inefficient, and unreliable.
Similarly, Sequoia Capital issued a negative outlook for the AI sector, highlighting the significant revenue gap that AI firms need to bridge to justify their expenditures on Nvidia GPUs.
