Nvidia focuses on gaming and AI to ensure chip supply

Nvidia is working on the "demand side" to reduce cryptocurrency mining efficiency in GeForce graphic cards, ensuring adequate supplies for core game users and addressing chip shortages, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang said during an online conference on Wednesday.

Nvidia, the world's largest graphic chipmaker, launched new graphic cards and artificial intelligence-featured technologies during Computex 2021 – one of the world's biggest computing shows, held online this year due to the pandemic. 

Nvidia's new GeForce RTX cards have nerfed hash rate as a key index for cryptocurrency mining efficiency to deal with supply shortages on the demand side, said Huang.

The cards feature improved ray tracing, sharper images, better lighting effects and smoother video motion, and will be available on the market later this month. The new technologies have been adopted and used in 130 games and creative applications, including an upcoming game "DYING : 1983" from Chinese developer NEKCOM and a newly released game "NARAKA:BLADEPOINT" from NetEase.

An increasing number of Chinese developers have adopted Nvidia's technologies and industry standards, which help them gain international exposure and expand into overseas markets, Huang said. 

Cryptocurrency mining demand isn't going away, but miners can use Nvidia's cryptocurrency mining processors released earlier.

With the surging prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, miners drove the prices of Nvidia's GeForce cards 300 percent higher in the secondary market, resulting in a supply shortage of new cards.

During Computex 2021, Nvidia also launched AI-featured servers and data centers with partners such as ASUS, Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo, China's top computer maker. They are used in various industries such as medical, manufacturing, retail and finance.

In the future, the industry will speed up the convergence of technologies including AI, 5G and cloud, Huang said.

Ti Gong