NVIDIA delays next-gen Blackwell AI chips due to design flaws
Due to critical design flaws, NVIDIA’s highly awaited Blackwell AI GPUs are experiencing significant delays. This delay will affect major clients like Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, and shipments may be pushed to Q1 2025.
The most advanced models of the Blackwell AI chips which are suited for various AI projects have been affected by this setback. Although NVIDIA did not officially comment on specific details it assured that production would ramp up later this year.
Nvidia's next-gen Blackwell chip may be facing delays due to design flaws
— TechSpot (@TechSpot) August 3, 2024
Nvidia's highly anticipated Blackwell series of AI chips has encountered a significant setback. Newly discovered design flaws will delay shipments by at least thr… https://t.co/AqvGbs1m3a
NVIDIA’s Blackwell chips encounter a halt in production over design issues
Production of NVIDIA’s new Blackwell AI GPUs, including the B200 models, has been halted due to severe design problems. The issues were found in the last stages of development and pushed back the rollout by several months. Two unnamed sources involved in the production said that the delay could exceed three months or longer. The Information first reported this information, and Bloomberg later confirmed it with anonymous sources at Microsoft.
AI companies such as Meta, Google, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are waiting for these chips that have an enormous impact on their technology initiatives. These companies rely on NVIDIA to continuously provide them with cutting-edge solutions so they can remain competitive in artificial intelligence.
Tech giants scramble amid the delay of NVIDIA’s GPUs
Microsoft, Meta, and Google are all said to have been made aware of the delay. These businesses rely heavily on NVIDIA’s cutting-edge AI hardware, which helps them power their AI research and development projects. This implies they will not receive significant shipments until early 2025, slowing down some of their planned updates on such technologies.
NVIDIA insists, however, that production is still on track to increase later this year to lessen the disruption it caused. But without any immediate solution, these tech giants find themselves in a difficult position. Microsoft and Meta declined to provide comments regarding how this specific delay would affect their business operations, while AWS and Google remained silent in response to requests for comment on the issue.
The chain reaction goes even further than those companies alone. TSMC, which manufactures Blackwell GPUs on behalf of NVIDIA, was unable to provide comments when approached about it. This means other parts of their semiconductor business — where they may struggle to meet different types of demand — could be affected by shifts in TSMC’s production schedule due to this delay as well.
