Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers.
Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia.
Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform.
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, AFP
“NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for partners to build specialized AI infrastructures,” Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said in his keynote address at Computex in Taipei.
NVLink Fusion products give customers the option to use their own central processing units with Nvidia’s AI chips, or twin Nvidia silicon with another company’s AI accelerator.
The world’s major hyperscalers are already deploying Nvidia’s NVLink full-rack solutions and can speed time to availability by standardizing their heterogeneous silicon data centers on the Nvidia rack architecture with NVLink Fusion, Nvidia said in a statement.
“Our collaboration, which began in the automotive segment, now extends even further, enabling us to deliver scalable, efficient and flexible technologies that address the rapidly evolving needs of cloud-scale AI,” MediaTek vice chairman and CEO Rick Tsai (蔡力行) was quoted as saying in a statement by Nvidia.
Alchip CEO Johnny Shen (沈翔霖) said the company is supporting adoption of NVLink Fusion by broadening its availability through a design and manufacturing ecosystem, encompassing advanced processes and proven packaging and supported by the ASIC industry’s most flexible engagement.
Aside from Taiwanese chip companies, Qualcomm Inc, Fujitsu Ltd, Marvell Technology Inc, Astera Labs, Synopsys and Cadence are also among those first adopters of the technology to further open up access to its interconnect technology, Nvidia said.
Qualcomm yesterday said it is planning to launch custom CPUs for AI data centers that can connect with Nvidia’s GPUs.
Fujitsu Ltd also said its next-generation processor, FUJITSU-MONAKA, a 2-nanometer Arm-based CPU, can be combined with Nvidia’s full-stack AI infrastructure to deliver new levels of performance, the Nvidia statement said.
Nvidia also announced that it has picked Taipei to build its new Taiwan office, dubbed Nvidia Constellation, ending months of speculation.
“I’m very pleased to announce that Nvidia Constellation will be built in Beitou Shilin (北投士林),” Huang said. “We have negotiated the transfer of the lease from the current owners.”
As Nvidia’s partnerships with the Taiwanese ecosystem grow, the number of engineers at its Taiwan operations has been growing and it is building a brand new office to house its engineers, he said.
In addition, Huang announced a partnership between Nvidia, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and the National Science and Technology Council to build “the first giant AI supercomputer” for Taiwan.
It is crucial for Taiwan to have “world-class AI infrastructure” given the number of companies engaged in robotics and AI research here, Huang said, adding that the initiative would cater to Taiwan’s “AI infrastructure” and “AI ecosystem.”
The project will benefit researchers, students, start-ups and established companies alike, he added.
Additional reporting by CNA and Bloomberg
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
GROWING AMBITIONS: The scale and tempo of the operations show that the Strait has become the core theater for China to expand its security interests, the report said Chinese military aircraft incursions around Taiwan have surged nearly 15-fold over the past five years, according to a report released yesterday by the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Department of China Affairs. Sorties in the Taiwan Strait were previously irregular, totaling 380 in 2020, but have since evolved into routine operations, the report showed. “This demonstrates that the Taiwan Strait has become both the starting point and testing ground for Beijing’s expansionist ambitions,” it said. Driven by military expansionism, China is systematically pursuing actions aimed at altering the regional “status quo,” the department said, adding that Taiwan represents the most critical link in China’s
RSS