The Blackwell chip is Nvidia's most advanced chip to date and its rollout has been met with both excitement and anxiety. Despite the challenges, Patel said Blackwell is scaling fast and Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, has promised billions in revenue from Blackwell this year. The company's stock fell following the overheating report but had climbed above its price at Friday's market close by midday Tuesday.
Key takeaways:
- Nvidia's Blackwell chip has faced cooling issues, causing concerns among customers. However, Semianalysis claims that these overheating reports are overblown and the issues have largely been addressed.
- Liquid cooling is crucial for data centers to handle advanced chips like Blackwell, especially for larger configurations that tend to overheat. This has led to adjustments and even new buildings being brought online.
- Despite the challenges and environmental concerns, the transition to liquid cooling is seen as necessary. Data centers that cannot deliver on higher density liquid cooling risk being left behind in the AI arms race.
- Despite the cooling issues and challenges in installation, Blackwell is scaling fast. Semianalysis estimates that 200,000 chips will ship this year, mostly to hyperscalers.