Nvidia (NVDA) kicks off its annual GTC conference on March 18 with a keynote by CEO Jensen Huang from the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. The event, which runs through March 21, will feature workshops and training for developers and engineers, panels and discussions related to AI and robotics, and exhibits from companies showing off how they’re using Nvidia’s products in the real world.
Huang is expected to debut the company’s latest flagship AI chip: the Blackwell Ultra. A souped-up version of Nvidia’s existing Blackwell chip, Blackwell Ultra should get a performance boost over last year’s chip to further speed up training and running AI models.
We should also learn more about Nvidia’s next-generation GPU platform, dubbed Rubin, and the successor to its Grace line of CPUs, Vera. The combined superchip will be called Vera Rubin, named for the American astronomer, and will take the place of the current Grace Blackwell superchip at the top of Nvidia’s hierarchy of AI processors.
During Nvidia’s fourth quarter earnings call, Huang teased that he’d also discuss the follow-up to Rubin. Nvidia, like most chip companies, is known for providing a broad look at its roadmap to help customers and developers prepare for their upcoming products.
In addition to Nvidia’s future chips, Huang will dive into the company’s latest software updates around its CUDA platform, simulation technologies, and more. During last year’s event, Haung talked up Nvidia’s software efforts around humanoid robots.
And with the company set to host a panel dedicated to the topic, you can expect the CEO to provide even more details about Nvidia’s push into the humanoid robotics race.
The company will also host its first Quantum Day during GTC, which will include a panel discussion between Huang and executives from quantum computing companies including Alice & Bob, D-Wave (QBTS), IonQ (IONQ), Rigetti (RGTI), and SEEQC.
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Huang made waves in January when he said practical quantum computers are still between 15 and 30 years away from becoming a reality, sending quantum computing stocks lower. Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) each announced their own quantum computing chips over the past few months, driving increased interest in the technology.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says practical quantum computers are likely five to 10 years away.
At close: March 14 at 4:00:00 PM EDT
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Predicting when future technologies will reach maturity is a fraught exercise, and even quantum computing scientists are torn over when a quantum computer will prove truly useful. Still, the conversation between Huang and leaders at quantum companies should prove interesting.
