Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said.
Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes.
To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and Taiwan-based IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) have organized the Silicon Photonics Industry Alliance, which is comprised of more than 30 Taiwanese companies.
Photo: CNA
Silicon photonics is a technology that uses silicon as a medium for optical transmission, which has some promising features, such as low power consumption, extensive transmission distance and lower costs.
At a time when AI applications are booming, finding ways to cut energy consumption has become a focus.
Huang expressed gratitude to all TSMC’s employees for their support for Nvidia, which he said has enabled his company to make a significant improvement in production, as AI applications are in great demand.
Huang also visited several of Nvidia’s business partners in Taiwan.
During the visits, Huang said global demand for Nvidia’s advanced Grace and Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs) was strong as he also thanked Taiwanese partners for providing about 45 factories to help his company.
He named Nvidia’s partners in expressing his gratitude, including AI server makers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and Wistron Corp (緯創), cloud-enabled services provider Wiwynn Corp (緯穎), AI graphics card vendor Gigabyte Technology Co (技嘉), IC packaging and testing services provider Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密) and PC component maker Cooler Master Co (訊凱國際).
Nvidia has created GPUs and AI applications, and laid a new foundation for future computer development, Huang said, adding that he believed the AI industry would become the mainstream of the global industrial development, and that the technology would allow machines to learn 24 hours a day to help humans.
He said that now is just the beginning of the AI era, and he expected several trillion US dollars worth of business opportunities to come.
Nvidia has to grow rapidly to meet the trend, but without its Taiwanese partners, which are “working around the clock,” it would be impossible for his company to make it, Huang said.
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