Why NVIDIA's developer conference is the Woodstock of AI and its CEO compares himself to Taylor Swift
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2024 9:06 am
At the GTC developer conference on Monday, NVIDIA raised the curtain on the powerful Blackwell B200 AI chip, which promises to become the backbone of the revolution born from the womb of artificial intelligence in the years to come. However, beyond the presentation of such a sensational technological marvel, the conference stood out for the magnetic presence on stage of Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, who was celebrated like a real pop star.
The tech industry has probably not seen such a formidable spectacle since the iconic presentations led by Steve Jobs at Apple. At its GTC developer conference held last Monday in San Jose, California, NVIDIA, which has the reputation of being a pioneer in the field of AI, presented the new Blackwell B200 chip, which aims to become the engine of artificial intelligence in the coming years.
The presentation was attended by a whopping 16,000 people , matching the usual crowds that pop stars gather at their concerts. And NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang was greeted at the hockey stadium where his crowded keynote took place like a pop star of many calibres.
“We need bigger GPUs. And that’s why I’d like to introduce you to very, very big GPUs.” With these words, Huang introduced the new Blackwell B200 chip, which is designed to run at least four times faster than its predecessor , the Hopper H100 chip, which currently powers AI servers at companies like OpenAI and Google. The Hopper H100 is so dominant in the AI industry today that the price of Nvidia shares has skyrocketed by 240% in the space of just one year.
Nvidia CEO revealed himself as a real showman at the GTC developer conference
The new Blackwell B200 processor runs 30 times faster than the Hopper H100 and consume bosnia and herzegovina whatsapp list 25 times less energy than its predecessor. According to Nvidia, its new processor has a power of up to 20 petaFLOPS, compared to the 4 petaFLOPS of the Hopper H100.
Proving once again that he has the makings of a showman, Huang said goodbye to the Blackwell B200's predecessor with these words: "Hopper is fantastic, but we need bigger processors,"
The "show" organized by NVIDIA (and carefully planned down to the smallest detail) to present the new Blackwell B200 chip revolved largely around the figure of Jensen Huang, who managed to turn the presentation of new hardware into a sensational spectacle capable of thrilling thousands of people in the stands.
NVIDIA’s presentation was hailed by some (even before the curtain went up) as the Woodstock of AI. And there was no shortage of spectacle. Two small AI-equipped dogs ran around the stage during Huang’s keynote, for example. And the NVIDIA CEO, who attended the presentation wearing his now legendary leather jacket, even dared to take a dig at Taylor Swift . “When I was rehearsing this presentation, someone told me that an artist practices her performances on a treadmill. And I haven’t done that, so if I end up with my tongue hanging out after just 10 minutes of presentation, you know what happened,” joked Huang, whose real name is Jen-Hsun Huang and was born in Taiwan.
Huang's words are a clear allusion to Taylor Swift, who recently confessed that she had trained for her Eras Tour by running three hours a day on the treadmill. Despite not having trained as hard as the singer for her performance, the truth is that Huang never lacked oxygen on stage (and neither did his chips). NVIDIA wants the new Blackwell B200 chip, developed with a budget of 10 billion dollars, to be "the engine of a new industrial revolution with AI."
The tech industry has probably not seen such a formidable spectacle since the iconic presentations led by Steve Jobs at Apple. At its GTC developer conference held last Monday in San Jose, California, NVIDIA, which has the reputation of being a pioneer in the field of AI, presented the new Blackwell B200 chip, which aims to become the engine of artificial intelligence in the coming years.
The presentation was attended by a whopping 16,000 people , matching the usual crowds that pop stars gather at their concerts. And NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang was greeted at the hockey stadium where his crowded keynote took place like a pop star of many calibres.
“We need bigger GPUs. And that’s why I’d like to introduce you to very, very big GPUs.” With these words, Huang introduced the new Blackwell B200 chip, which is designed to run at least four times faster than its predecessor , the Hopper H100 chip, which currently powers AI servers at companies like OpenAI and Google. The Hopper H100 is so dominant in the AI industry today that the price of Nvidia shares has skyrocketed by 240% in the space of just one year.
Nvidia CEO revealed himself as a real showman at the GTC developer conference
The new Blackwell B200 processor runs 30 times faster than the Hopper H100 and consume bosnia and herzegovina whatsapp list 25 times less energy than its predecessor. According to Nvidia, its new processor has a power of up to 20 petaFLOPS, compared to the 4 petaFLOPS of the Hopper H100.
Proving once again that he has the makings of a showman, Huang said goodbye to the Blackwell B200's predecessor with these words: "Hopper is fantastic, but we need bigger processors,"
The "show" organized by NVIDIA (and carefully planned down to the smallest detail) to present the new Blackwell B200 chip revolved largely around the figure of Jensen Huang, who managed to turn the presentation of new hardware into a sensational spectacle capable of thrilling thousands of people in the stands.
NVIDIA’s presentation was hailed by some (even before the curtain went up) as the Woodstock of AI. And there was no shortage of spectacle. Two small AI-equipped dogs ran around the stage during Huang’s keynote, for example. And the NVIDIA CEO, who attended the presentation wearing his now legendary leather jacket, even dared to take a dig at Taylor Swift . “When I was rehearsing this presentation, someone told me that an artist practices her performances on a treadmill. And I haven’t done that, so if I end up with my tongue hanging out after just 10 minutes of presentation, you know what happened,” joked Huang, whose real name is Jen-Hsun Huang and was born in Taiwan.
Huang's words are a clear allusion to Taylor Swift, who recently confessed that she had trained for her Eras Tour by running three hours a day on the treadmill. Despite not having trained as hard as the singer for her performance, the truth is that Huang never lacked oxygen on stage (and neither did his chips). NVIDIA wants the new Blackwell B200 chip, developed with a budget of 10 billion dollars, to be "the engine of a new industrial revolution with AI."