Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced on Wednesday during an earnings call that the company’s latest AI chip, Blackwell, will begin shipping in the next quarter. The chip is expected to be twice as fast as Nvidia’s current Hopper chip, marking a new era of computing for the company.
Huang presented an accelerated timeline for the deployment of the Blackwell chip, which features five times the AI performance of the current iteration. Production shipments are set to start in the second quarter and ramp up in the third quarter, with customers expected to have data centers up and running by the fourth quarter.
Despite excitement for Blackwell, demand for Nvidia’s current hardware remains strong. Huang noted increasing demand for Hopper in this quarter and expects it to outstrip supply until some time as they transition to Blackwell. The Blackwell systems have been designed to be backwards compatible with Hoppers for an easy transition.
Nvidia is experiencing unprecedented success, with record highs in stock prices following strong first-quarter earnings. Huang expressed confidence in the growth potential of the company, particularly with Blackwell coming into play. However, looming challenges from competitors developing rival chips suggest that Nvidia will need to stay ahead of its curve to maintain its leading position in the market.
