[News] Microsoft Leads in purchasing 500K NVIDIA Hopper AI Chip in 2024, Boosting Taiwanese Supply Chain

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Microsoft has reportedly emerged as the largest buyer of NVIDIA’s Hopper this year, with its procurement volume estimated to reach nearly 500,000 units, doubling that of the second-largest buyer, according to Economic Daily News, citing Financial Times.

The report from Economic Daily News notes that this substantial purchase of the flagship chips reflects strong demand for AI servers, benefiting key contract manufacturers, such as Taiwan’s Foxconn, Quanta, and Wiwynn.

NVIDIA’s most advanced GPUs have been in short supply over the past two years, as the report highlights. By securing a significant stockpile of these chips, Microsoft is positioned to gain a competitive edge in developing next-generation AI systems. Following Microsoft, other major buyers of NVIDIA’s Hopper chips are said to be Meta, Amazon, Google, as well as China’s tech giants ByteDance and Tencent, as noted by the reports.

However, another report from Economic Daily News, citing MarketWatch, points out that while Microsoft has secured an ample supply of AI chips, the company still faces challenges with the electricity required to power them.

The MarketWatch report highlights that during a recent interview with B2Pod, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that electricity supply, not chip availability, was the primary bottleneck when asked whether the company still faced ‘supply constraints’ from chip makers.

The report mentions that since the AI boom sparked by ChatGPT in 2022, Microsoft had been aggressively acquiring chips. However, Nadella emphasized that this was a one-time effort and that the company has now met its chip needs.

On the other hand, earlier this month, rumors suggested that Microsoft has been reducing its orders from NVIDIA. According to a report by Commercial Times, NVIDIA’s next-generation Blackwell architecture chip, the GB200, has reportedly encountered technical hurdles in its mass production plans. As a result, Microsoft is said to be scaling back its orders.

Read more

• [News] Production Hurdles for GB200 Spark Rumors of Microsoft Cutting Orders
• [News] Big Four CSPs Capital Expenditures Surge, Driving Demand for Taiwanese AI Supply Chain

(Photo credit: NVIDIA)