Nvidia, the world’s largest manufacturer of graphics chips, reported a 66 per cent increase in fourth-quarter revenue, fueled primarily by demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) chips. The company’s strong results reflect its growing dominance in the AI chip market, where its Tensor processing units have established it as a leading player (TPUs).
Nvidia’s stock rose nearly 14 per cent to $236.70. They have increased by more than 60% since the beginning of the year, nearly tripling the gain of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The surge in interest helped Nvidia report better-than-expected quarterly earnings and forecast sales that exceeded Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, in stark contrast to rival Intel Corp’s projected loss and dividend cut.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang claims that the company’s TPUs are now used in a variety of applications ranging from self-driving cars to medical imaging to scientific research. In addition, the company is expanding into new markets, such as data centers and edge computing, where demand for AI capabilities is rapidly increasing.
However, Nvidia’s success in the AI chip market has not gone unnoticed by competitors. Intel, which has traditionally focused on CPU chips, has made significant investments in AI technology in recent years, while Google and other tech behemoths are developing their own AI chips.
The company began in the graphics chip business for PCs, making video games look more realistic, and then rode the cryptocurrency wave, with its chips used for mining. The next boost comes from generative AI.
Regardless of the competition, Nvidia’s market position appears to be stable. The company is heavily investing in R&D and has a number of new products in the works, including its upcoming Grace CPU, which is designed specifically for AI workloads.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.