AI to GPUs’ rescue

A100 GPU. © Nvidia.

GPU manufacturers have had some stormy years. First, a components shortage that prevented them from meeting demand, then cooling PC sales due to inflation, which has them swamped in excess inventory. But the brisk rise of AI could be wind in their sails. Many AI applications like deep learning are based on GPUs’ computing power. OpenAI is said to have ordered 10,000 GPUs from Nvidia to develop ChatGPT, the conversational tool that needs no introduction. But we’ll be talking millions of units when tech giants such as Microsoft and Google get ready to integrate language models into their search engines. Gamers might not be keen to see that life raft. AI applications could bring in another wave of shortages such as the one caused by the boom in cryptocurrency. AI applications could lead to a shortage similar to the one caused by the cryptocurrency boom, although large companies usually resort to specialized GPUs like the ultra-powerful Nvidia A100 to train AI models. Production capacity is part of the problem, with Nvidia and others focusing on units in the 15,000 to 30,000 USD range and their attractive profit margins, rather than on consumer cards.

⇨ Tech Radar, Muskaan Saxena, “ChatGPT might bring about another GPU shortage - sooner than you might expect.”

2023-02-13