The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI is in talks for a new round of funding, with tech giants Apple and NVIDIA both interested in investing in the AI research company OpenAI.

It’s reported that this investment will be part of OpenAI’s new round of financing, which will bring its estimated value to exceed USD 100 billion.

Sources indicated that OpenAI plans to raise billions of dollars, and venture capital firm Thrive Capital will lead this round of funding with a USD 1 billion investment. Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest shareholder, will also be a part of this round.

Reportedly, sources have revealed that Apple is currently in talks with OpenAI for the potential investment, while NVIDIA has already discussed joining the latest round of funding, who reportedly considered investing USD 100 million.

Although it is not yet clear how much Apple and Microsoft plan to invest, the point is that the three most valuable tech giants in the world would all become shareholders of OpenAI if these negotiations end in success.

In a memo on Wednesday, OpenAI’s CFO Sarah Friar stated that the company is seeking new financing but did not disclose specific details. Friar mentioned that OpenAI would leverage this funding to strengthen computing power and cover other operational expenses.

With the rise of the AI industry, Microsoft, Apple, and NVIDIA have also accelerated their pace in developing AI technologies.

Microsoft has invested USD 13 billion in OpenAI since 2019, holding a stake of 49% in this company. Apple, at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June this year, launched the Apple Intelligence system and announced a partnership with OpenAI.

As for NVIDIA, it has long been closely collaborating with OpenAI and has been highly active in making investment in this field. Its investment arm, NVentures, has invested in several AI companies since 2023.

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(Photo credit: OpenAI)

According to a report from the China Business Network, Huawei, seems to have overcome the pressure of U.S. sanctions, as it posted strong financial results in the first half of 2024 on August 29.

The report shows that Huawei’s revenue for the first half of the year reached CNY 417.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 34.3%. The net profit was CNY 55.1 billion, up 18.2% year-on-year, marking the best performance for this period in the company’s history.

It is further reported that Huawei’s revenue for the first half of the year has already surpassed the CNY 401.3 billion recorded in the first half of 2019, second only to the CNY 454 billion in the first half of 2020.

This is also the first time in history that Huawei’s net profit for the same period has exceeded CNY 50 billion, higher than the CNY 46.6 billion recorded in the first half of last year. The net profit margin for the first half of this year reached 13.2%.

Huawei’s rotating chairman, Xu Zhijun (Eric Xu), stated that the group’s overall operating performance met expectations.

He then pointed out that Huawei will continue to implement its high-quality strategy, continuously optimize its industrial portfolio, strengthen development resilience, and build a prosperous business ecosystem, providing more competitive products and solutions for its customers.

Currently, Huawei divides its business into five segments: ICT Infrastructure Business, Consumer Business, Cloud Computing Business, Digital Power Business, and Intelligent Automotive Solution Business.

Huawei did not disclose the revenue details for each business segment. However, according to last year’s annual report, the consumer business remains the main revenue driver, while Huawei Cloud has shown the fastest growth.

On the other hand, according to a recent report released by Seres, the new company under Huawei’s Intelligent Automotive Solution Business – Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co Ltd – achieved revenue of CNY 10.43 billion in the first half of 2024, a tenfold increase compared to the same period last year. The company’s net profit reached CNY 2.231 billion, with a net profit margin of 21.38%.

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(Photo credit: Huawei)

The electric car market in China has been facing intense competition, with Xiaomi revealed that it suffered a USD 9200 loss per vehicle from April to June. However, the price war is not the only battleground, as the focus now seems to be turned to another front.

According to a report by CNBC, chip-powered tech features, such as the driver assist function, have gradually become the latest trend, while the development of in-house chips emerges as the possible match point for China’s EV makers. The reason behind: the need for customization and a must to reduce reliance on cutting-edge AI chips amid US- China tensions.

Until now, many leading Chinese EV manufacturers have relied on NVIDIA’s chips, with the AI heavyweight’s automotive chip business generating over USD 300 million in quarterly revenue in recent years, CNBC notes.

However, Chinese electric car start-ups Nio and Xpeng both announced progress on their self-developed chips lately, signaling the beginning of a new era in which in-house chips may become the mainstream for the industry.

In late July, Nio announced that it had taped-out its self-developed intelligent driving chip, Shenji NX9031, which is manufactured with 5nm node. The chip is said to be integrated into the company’s ET9 model, which is scheduled for delivery in 2025.

Citing industrial specialists, CNBC states that the move marks the first time that 5nm has been used in the Chinese automotive industry. For now, 3nm node is primarily utilized in smartphones, personal computers, and artificial intelligence-related applications.

On the other hand, another China’s EV start-up, XPeng Motors, announced in late August that its first AI chip, Turing, has been successfully taped-out. It is worth noting that XPeng has a strong relationship with NVIDIA, and Xpeng’s former head of autonomous driving joined Nvidia last year, CNBC reports.

In 2019, Tesla has reportedly moved away from using NVIDIA’s chips to developing its own, with a focus on advanced driver-assist functions. Citing an industrial specialist, CNBC suggests that Tesla and Chinese EV startups are expected to compete by designing their own chips, while traditional automakers will likely continue to depend on NVIDIA and Qualcomm for the foreseeable future.

The report does not anticipate a significant impact on NVIDIA in the short term, as Chinese automakers are expected to test new technology in small batches within the high-end segment of the market.

Anyhow, the reason behind the wave of self-developing chips for Chinese EV makers may be that it would be difficult for a company to differentiate itself if it uses the same silicon to power its infotainment and intelligent driving systems. By designing their own chips, Chinese automakers can customize features and mitigate supply chain risks associated with geopolitical tensions.

According to the report, U.S. restrictions on NVIDIA’s chip sales to China have not directly impacted automakers, as their vehicles have not yet required the most advanced semiconductor technology.

However, with a growing emphasis on driver-assist functions, which depends heavily on artificial intelligence—a key area in the U.S.-China tech rivalry—Chinese automakers are now turning to in-house technology.

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(Photo credit: Nio)

AI chip NVIDIA provided financial guidance for the third quarter, estimating its quarterly revenue to reach USD 32.5 billion, with a fluctuation of plus or minus 2%. The figure, though beats market expectations in general, still falls short of the market’s most optimistic forecast of USD 37.9 billion, sparking concerns that its explosive growth is waning.

On the other hand, regarding whether NVIDIA’s next-gen AI chip, Blackwell, faces delay, the tech giant notes that it shipped samples this quarter, and has made an adjustment to the product to make it more efficient to manufacture, according to a report by CNBC.

Citing CFO Colette Kress, the report states that in the fourth quarter, “we expect to ship several billion dollars in Blackwell revenue.”

Q3 Guidance Somehow Fails to Impress the Market

According to NVIDIA’s guidance, the adjusted gross margin in the third quarter is expected to be 75%, with a fluctuation of plus or minus 50 basis points, slightly below the market expectation of 75.5%. The company’s gross margin for the second quarter was 75.7%, with an average expectation of 75.8%.

This quarter’s outlook, though being solid, somehow fails to impress the market. The AI chip manufacturer has been a major beneficiary as companies rush to upgrade their data centers to handle AI software, and its sales forecast has become a barometer of this AI surge.

A report by the Economic Daily raises concerns that though the company has had several consecutive quarters of outstanding performance, most of its growth comes from a small number of customers. For instance, about 40% of its revenue comes from large data center operators, such as Google and Meta.

Although these tech giants have been investing heavily on AI, there are concerns that the scale of the infrastructure being built may exceed current demand, which could lead to a bubble.

Blackwell Update: Obstacles Removed?

There were concerns that there might be design issues with Blackwell, which might cause the shipment to delay. According to the report by the Economic Daily, NVIDIA admitted that it has encountered difficulties in the production process, but stated that they are implementing reforms to improve yield rates.

A report by Wccftech states that NVIDIA has confirmed that it has “implemented a change” to the Blackwell GPU mask produced at TSMC using the 4NP process node, which is expected to further enhance production yield. As this change is not a significant architectural redesign, the product remains on schedule for the ramp to start in the fourth quarter and continuing into FY2026.

According to Wccftech, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang reiterates that “Hopper demand remains strong, and the anticipation for Blackwell is incredible.” CFO Colette Kress further states that in the fourth quarter, “we expect to ship several billion dollars in Blackwell revenue.”

Q2 Performance Still Beats Market Expectations

In the second quarter, which ended on July 28, NVIDIA’s revenue was USD 30.04 billion, surpassing the market expectation of USD 28.7 billion. The annual growth rate for this quarter was 122%, marking the third consecutive quarter with a growth rate exceeding 200%. Net income for the quarter more than doubled from USD 6.18 billion, or 25 cents per share, a year ago to USD 16.6 billion, or 67 cents per share. Adjusted earnings per share were 68 cents, beating the market expectation of 64 cents.

It is worth noting that NVIDIA’s data center business revenue in the second quarter increased significantly by 154% YoY to $USD 26.3 billion, accounting for 88% of total sales. Its gaming revenue also grew 16% year over year to USD 2.9 billion, exceeding the expected USD 2.7 billion, which the company attributes to an increase in shipments of PC gaming cards and game console SoCs, reportedly chips for Nintendo’s game consoles.

The company also announced the approval of a USD 50 billion share buyback program.

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(Photo credit: NVIDIA)

According to a report by 36Kr, China’s EV maker, XPeng Motors, has successfully completed the tape-out process for its self-developed intelligent driving chip.

Sources cited by the report further reveal that XPeng’s intelligent driving chip is specifically designed to meet AI demands, including end-to-end large models. The product is considered to be is a central computing architecture chip that supports integrated cabin and driving functionalities.

The AI computing power of this chip is said to be equivalent to that of three mainstream intelligent driving chips.

Additionally, the report mentions that on August 27th, during XPeng’s 10th anniversary and the launch event for the M03 model, XPeng Motors will officially release details about its self-developed chip.

In response to the rumors surrounding the unveiling of XPeng’s self-developed chip, as per the report, XPeng’s Chairman and CEO hinted on his personal social account that the company certainly won’t disappoint.

Previously, NIO, another automobile manufacturer in China, had also announced the successful tape-out of its 5nm autonomous driving chip, the NX9031.

The tape-outs of self-developed chips marks the beginning of a new phase in which automakers are further competing to enhance the efficiency of intelligent driving software and hardware.

Per a previous report by 36Kr, it was noted that XPeng began building its chip team in 2020. Initially, XPeng collaborated with the U.S. chip design company Marvell, but the partnership did not go smoothly.

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(Photo credit: XPeng)