NVIDIA Faces Delays in AI Chip Launch Due to Design Issues
NVIDIA is currently grappling with significant “design issues” related to its forthcoming AI chip series, which could result in a postponement of their launch by at least three months, as reported by The Information. The corporation has begun informing key customers, notably Microsoft, about these delays. The initial plan was for substantial orders of the new Blackwell chips to commence shipping within this calendar year; however, insiders now indicate that deliveries may not occur until early 2025. Google’s parent company Alphabet, along with Meta and other notable tech giants had placed major bulk orders for these chips, anticipated to be valued at “tens of billions of dollars.”
Performance Expectations and Engineering Challenges
Back in March, NVIDIA had highlighted the monumental performance capabilities of the Blackwell chip architecture, claiming improvements up to 30 times greater than their flagship H100 model—currently a pivotal component for various leading AI infrastructures. Furthermore, they projected that these new chips could potentially decrease both costs and energy usage by as much as 25 times compared to existing models. However, recent reports per The Information, suggest that unexpected design complications emerged at an unusually late stage in production.
Production Troubleshooting Efforts Underway
In response to these design setbacks, NVIDIA is collaborating closely with its manufacturing partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) on test production runs aimed at diagnosing and resolving the emerging issues. Reports indicate that unless significant breakthroughs occur swiftly during this troubleshooting phase, mainstream shipments might not commence until the first quarter of next year.
This piece originally appeared on Engadget. To read more on this topic visit Source.
