Greater than a yr in the past, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated he was open to the likelihood of getting Intel manufacture Nvidia’s GPUs by Intel’s foundry companies program.
On the time, Huang was noncommittal past saying that Nvidia was wanting on the risk. Now issues are getting extra concrete. Throughout a question-and-answer session on the Computex tradeshow in Taipei, Taiwan, Huang stated he had lately acquired good outcomes for an Intel check chip based mostly on the corporate’s next-generation course of node.
“You realize that we additionally manufacture with Samsung, and we’re open to manufacturing with Intel. [Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger] has stated up to now that we’re evaluating the method, and we lately acquired the check chip outcomes of their next-generation course of, and the outcomes look good,” Huang stated.
The truth that they’re now on the level of check chips signifies Nvidia is additional alongside the method than anticipated and may very well be getting near a closing product. However there nonetheless are lots of unanswered questions.
Huang did not specify which of Nvidia’s architectural designs the check chips had been constructed on, or which course of node was examined. Intel is at the moment manufacturing chips on what it calls Intel 4 (4nm transistors), with Intel 3 (3nm transistors) due later this yr. Intel 20A (2.0nm) and Intel 18A (1.8nm) are due subsequent yr.
Huang additionally stated that Nvidia’s provide chain is designed for “most range and redundancy in order that we will have resilience,” and “we manufacture in as many locations as we will.”
However the truth is, Nvidia is extraordinarily depending on manufacturing by TSMC, which is predicated in Taiwan. With the Chinese language authorities making no secret of its ambition to take management of the island and repeated threats of warfare, discovering a chip provider outdoors of Taiwan has change into a precedence not just for Nvidia but in addition for different TSMC clients.
Even when TSMC wasn’t apprehensive a couple of potential Chinese language invasion of Taiwan, it’s nonetheless massively overstretched and at capability. Not solely that, however chip manufacturing requires an immense quantity of recent water, and Taiwan has been by a brutal drought lately, making manufacturing that a lot more durable.
So it’s as important for TSMC to diversify as it’s for its clients, for various causes. It’s constructing new factories in Japan and in Phoenix, Arizona, however these received’t come on-line till late subsequent yr on the earliest. Working with Intel would give Nvidia a producing accomplice with the capability it wants and fabs that aren’t in potential warfare zones.
In the long run, having Intel as its producer might guarantee a wholesome provide chain for Nvidia and scale back its publicity to provide chain points and issues.
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