(Nov 8): Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang said he had asked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) for more chip supplies as artificial intelligence (AI) demand remains strong.
“The business is very strong, and it’s growing month by month, stronger and stronger,” Huang told reporters in Hsinchu, Taiwan, where he was attending TSMC’s annual sports day. Nvidia’s three AI memory chip suppliers — SK Hynix Inc, Samsung Electronics Co and Micron Technology Inc — have all scaled up “tremendous capacity” to support the company, he said on Saturday.
TSMC’s CEO also said on Saturday Huang had asked for more wafers when the two met this time. TSMC expects to keep on seeing record sales every year, CC Wei told employees at the event.
Stocks of megacap technology firms took a beating this week after a bout of scepticism overtook euphoria towards AI. Investor sentiment was dented by OpenAI’s funding questions, and bearish wagers on Nvidia by Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management.
Still, Nvidia remains the world’s most valuable business, ahead of Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp.
Huang’s optimism about AI demand is also shared by his peers. Qualcomm Inc CEO Cristiano Amon told Bloomberg TV earlier this week that the world is underestimating how big the new technology will get.
See also: Tesla shareholders didn’t approve of investment in Musk’s xAI
Huang met TSMC’s Wei for dinner on Friday. On Saturday, he expressed gratitude to TSMC for its critical support, which he said was key to Nvidia’s success. “No TSMC, no Nvidia,” he said.
Huang’s efforts to bolster ties with TSMC come as rivals including Qualcomm try to challenge Nvidia’s leadership in AI accelerators, while chasing limited supplies from the Taiwanese chipmaker.
Wei told analysts in October that TSMC’s capacity remains very tight and the company is working hard to narrow the gap between demand and supply.
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee
