Technology
Thursday, March 21st, 2024 3:38 pm EDT
Key Points
- Nvidia, a booming chipmaker, avoids publicly criticizing X despite its antisemitism issues, while having a growing business relationship with Elon Musk’s companies.
- Musk’s companies, including Tesla and xAI, rely heavily on Nvidia’s GPUs for AI development in areas like self-driving cars and robotics.
- This partnership is not without tensions, as Musk previously called Nvidia monopolistic, but ultimately both companies seem to benefit from this increasingly close relationship.
In a recent employee meeting, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was asked about advertising on X, a platform facing criticism for antisemitism and hate speech. While Nvidia doesn’t advertise there, Huang avoided criticizing X publicly. This comes amidst Nvidia’s booming business, driven by graphics processing units (GPUs) for AI, robotics, and data centers. Their success coincides with increased business ties to Elon Musk’s companies, which heavily rely on Nvidia GPUs. This connection was evident at Nvidia’s GTC conference, where leaders from Musk’s AI startup, xAI, presented on using Nvidia GPUs for their AI models. Nvidia even quoted Musk praising their hardware in a press release. Tesla, another Musk company, is also a big Nvidia customer, spending billions on their GPUs for AI development in self-driving cars and humanoid robots. While Tesla is building its own Dojo supercomputer, Nvidia GPUs remain crucial for their overall AI efforts. This cozy relationship isn’t without its complexities. Last year, Musk called Nvidia monopolistic, but Nvidia CEO Huang seems to hold Musk in high regard, crediting him for inspiring Nvidia’s first AI supercomputer. Despite some tension, Nvidia and Musk’s businesses are becoming increasingly intertwined.
For the full original article on CNBC, please click here: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/21/elon-musk-buying-nvidia-hardware-even-as-tesla-aims-to-build-ai-rival.html
