Tech giants in the AI race have been spending billions of dollars for GPUs made by Nvidia, considered a leader when it comes to chips that power the technology
AFP

Nvidia's new Blackwell AI chips are reportedly facing problems related to their supporting servers, which are overheating.

It has raised concerns among customers regarding whether they will have enough time to set up new data centers.

The new Blackwell graphics processing units apparently tend to overheat when connected together in customized racks designed to accommodate 72 units, which are intended for building powerful AI systems, the Information reported.

Nvidia has asked suppliers to modify the rack design multiple times to mitigate overheating, the report said, citing Nvidia employees who are knowledgeable about the issue, as well as customers and suppliers.

A company spokesperson downplayed the severity of the issue, saying that such iterations are a routine part of the development process.

"Nvidia is working with leading cloud service providers as an integral part of our engineering team and process. The engineering iterations are normal and expected," the spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.

There is no word yet from Nvidia whether the rack design has been finalized, or if the modifications will result in shipment delays. The new Blackwell AI chips feature two powerful silicon components and the company says they offer significant performance enhancements with up to 30 times faster processing speeds for AI tasks.

Unveiled in March, the chips were initially scheduled for shipment in the second quarter, but potential delays could impact major clients such as Google, Microsoft and Meta.

The AI chipmaker recently rose once more as the world's most valuable publicly traded company. Its shares rose by 2.9%, pushing its market cap to $3.42 trillion, beating Apple's market cap of $3.38 trillion.

Shares of Nvidia have been the biggest gainer so far when compared to rival tech giants Google and Microsoft who are investing heavily in the AI computing race. In November, Nvidia's shares rose by 12%

Nvidia's expansion shows no signs of slowing, as this year the company's shares tripled, driven by investors' continued confidence in the company's ability to maintain its growth in shareholder value, NBC reported.

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