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
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
RSS