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[News] Has the AI Chip Buying Frenzy Cooled Off? Microsoft Rumored to Decrease Nvidia H100 Orders


2023-09-20 Semiconductors editor

According to a report by Taiwanese media TechNews, industry sources have indicated that Microsoft has recently reduced its orders for Nvidia’s H100 graphics cards. This move suggests that the demand for H100 graphics cards in the large-scale artificial intelligence computing market has tapered off, and the frenzy of orders from previous customers is no longer as prominent.

In this wave of artificial intelligence trends, the major purchasers of related AI servers come from large-scale cloud computing service providers. Regarding Microsoft’s reported reduction in orders for Nvidia’s H100 graphics cards, market experts point to a key factor being the usage of Microsoft’s AI collaboration tool, Microsoft 365 Copilot, which did not perform as expected.

Another critical factor affecting Microsoft’s decision to reduce orders for Nvidia’s H100 graphics cards is the usage statistics of ChatGPT. Since its launch in November 2022, this generative AI application has experienced explosive growth in usage and has been a pioneer in the current artificial intelligence trend. However, ChatGPT experienced a usage decline for the first time in June 2023.

Industry insiders have noted that the reduction in Microsoft’s H100 graphics card orders was predictable. In May, both server manufacturers and direct customers stated that they would have to wait for over six months to receive Nvidia’s H100 graphics cards. However, in August, Tesla announced the deployment of a cluster of ten thousand H100 graphics cards, meaning that even those who placed orders later were able to receive sufficient chips within a few months. This indicates that the demand for H100 graphics cards, including from customers like Microsoft, has already been met, signifying that the fervent demand observed several months ago has waned.

(Photo credit: Nvidia)

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