Microarchitecture analysts have examined NVIDIA's GB10 'Superchip' and determined that its CPU cores are capable of going toe-to-toe with Intel and AMD.
Nvidia wants to be the equal to Intel and AMD. They want to be the 3rd major hardware house.
In ~2009, Intel didn’t renew a contract which allowed Nvidia to produce chipsets for Intel processors, and since then Nvidia has wanted a CPU of their own to keep from getting locked out again.
Nvidia tried to buy Arm when SoftBank was trying to sell, but that got scuttled. They had Tegra in the past which was a phone processor and successful in the Nintendo Switch. They can’t buy Intel because of poison pills in the x86 licensing between AMD and Intel which would kick in.
Are they hedging against AI collapsing? Not sure I see the motivation.
Yeah, that was my question. Why the hell would they develop new silicon when 99% of their fab space is dedicated to feeding the AI bubble?
Nvidia wants to be the equal to Intel and AMD. They want to be the 3rd major hardware house.
In ~2009, Intel didn’t renew a contract which allowed Nvidia to produce chipsets for Intel processors, and since then Nvidia has wanted a CPU of their own to keep from getting locked out again.
Nvidia tried to buy Arm when SoftBank was trying to sell, but that got scuttled. They had Tegra in the past which was a phone processor and successful in the Nintendo Switch. They can’t buy Intel because of poison pills in the x86 licensing between AMD and Intel which would kick in.
They’re doubling down. It’s a special CPU for more AI slop.