According to a report from Globes, amid significant layoffs at Intel, many former employees from the company in Israel have made the move to NVIDIA, including veteran staff who have worked at Intel for a decade or more.

The report noted that updates on LinkedIn indicate that at least 30 employees left Intel in 2024 to join NVIDIA’s offices in Yokneam and Tel Aviv. This group includes core processor development engineers, hardware architecture professionals, electric power management staff, and chip design software developers.

Currently, NVIDIA is undergoing a major expansion in Israel, having hired hundreds of employees from other companies and recent college graduates since the beginning of the year, as the report mentioned.

According to the report, NVIDIA is estimated to have hired between 60 and 90 former Intel employees in recent months. With Intel’s ongoing wave of voluntary retirements and layoffs, NVIDIA is likely to hire a dozen more, potentially bringing the total to around 100.

The report indicated that, according to Levels.fyi, NVIDIA offers higher salaries and better compensation packages—approximately 33% higher on average than at Intel. Notably, the biggest difference between Intel and NVIDIA lies in their share options. The report pointed out that, according to Levels.fyi, the annual value of the share option package for a hardware engineer at Intel starts at NIS 19,300 (around USD 5,187), while at NVIDIA it begins at NIS 56,200 (approximately USD 15,105).

Intel announced in August that it would reduce 15% of its workforce, estimated to be between 15,000 and 17,000 employees, while 7,500 have already opted for voluntary retirement, which includes 19 additional monthly salary payments, according to the report.

Regarding Intel’s situation in Israel, the report indicated that after thousands of employees were laid off in the U.S., several hundred employees at Intel’s development centers in Haifa, Petah Tikva, and Jerusalem are reportedly set to be laid off this week.

The report highlighted that most of Intel’s layoffs in Israel are occurring in the development centers, rather than at the production facility in Kiryat Gat. This is due to the construction of the new Fab 38 plant, which, once completed, will need more production staff.

According to the report, most of former Intel employees who joined NVIDIA this year made the move in recent months, with a noticeable increase in departures occurring this month. As for other former Intel employees in Israel, many have joined other major tech companies, including Apple, Amazon, and Mobileye, which is a subsidiary of Intel. The report also noted that a smaller number have transitioned to Microsoft, Google, and the Chinese company Huawei, which has a development center in Haifa.

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• [News] Intel Employees Prepare for Layoff Notices as Cuts Enter Peak Phase This Week

(Photo credit: NVIDIA)

What if the struggling giant, Intel, has not be left out of the AI wave? What if it is able to team up with NVIDIA, the world’s second-largest company by market capital currently? Surprisingly, it used to have the chance. According to a report from the New York Times, former Intel CEO Paul Otellini proposed to acquire NVIDIA for USD 20 billion in 2005, but the board ultimately rejected the idea.

The New York Times report, citing sources familiar with Intel’s boardroom discussions, noted that even at that time some executives believed NVIDIA’s designs could become essential for data centers, which has proven true with the recent boom in AI.

However, the plan to acquire NVIDIA did not materialize, as it would have been Intel’s most expensive acquisition, and there were concerns regarding the purchase.

The report noted that after the board rejected the idea of acquiring NVIDIA, Intel opted to pursue an internal graphics project called Larrabee, led by Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s current CEO. Larrabee was a hybrid that combined graphics with Intel’s PC-style chip design. However, Intel discontinued the development of Larrabee in 2009

In subsequent years, after missing the chance to acquire NVIDIA, Intel purchased other AI companies, including Nervana Systems and Movidius in 2016, as well as Habana Labs in 2019, according to the report. However, none of these acquisitions have come close to matching NVIDIA, which now has a market cap exceeding USD 3 trillion.

The missed opportunity to acquire NVIDIA is not the only instance where Intel struggled to make the right decision in the AI market. According to a Reuters report citing sources, Intel had the chance to invest in OpenAI several years ago, but the investment was ultimately rejected by company executives.

Reportedly, Intel and OpenAI discussed collaboration several times between 2017 and 2018. At that time, OpenAI was still a nascent nonprofit research organization focused on developing relatively unknown generative AI technologies, according to the report in the Reuters.

Recently, according to a report from Wccftech, Intel has stepped away from competing with NVIDIA in AI computing power and the market of training large-scale AI models. Instead, the company is now entering a less saturated segment of the AI market, focusing on its new cost-effective AI accelerator, Gaudi 3.

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• [News] Intel Reportedly Rejected OpenAI Investment, Missing Out on AI Opportunity
• [News] Intel Steps Back from AI Race with NVIDIA, Shifts Focus to Cost-Effective Solutions with Gaudi 3

(Photo credit: Intel)

According to a report from the Reuters, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang stated that the design flaw in the Blackwell GPU was entirely NVIDIA’s fault, dispelling rumors that TSMC was to blame. Huang emphasized that TSMC help fix the problem and resume the manufacturing “at an incredible pace.”

When initial reports of the design flaw emerged, some media outlets suggested that TSMC was at fault, speculating that this could strain the decades-long partnership between NVIDIA and TSMC. According to the Reuters, Huang referred to the reported tensions with TSMC as “fake news.”

A report from Tom’s Hardware indicated that the now-fixed Blackwell GPUs designed for AI and supercomputers are set to enter mass production in late October and are expected to begin shipping early next year.

Aside from addressing the design flaw in Blackwell AI chips, Huang also commented on the state of AI in Europe. According to another report from the Reuters, Huang stated that the EU is currently falling behind the U.S. and China in terms of AI investment.

The report from the Reuters mentioned that the EU has implemented the world’s first comprehensive regulations governing AI, which took effect in August. However, there are relatively few AI companies in the EU. Huang emphasized that the EU should accelerate its advancements in AI, noting that lots of countries are beginning to recognize data as a national resource.

Huang was in Denmark to launch a new supercomputer jointly developed by NVIDIA, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund. The supercomputer, named Gefion, is equipped with 1,528 GPUs and will be used for drug discovery, disease diagnosis, treatment, and addressing complex life science challenges, as reported by the Reuters.

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• [News] NVIDIA Reportedly in Talk with Samsung for Potential GPU Orders amid Rumored Tensions with TSMC
• [News] NVIDIA’s Blackwell Overcomes Delays, as GB200 Reportedly Sets for December Mass Production

(Photo credit: NVIDIA)

According to Economic Daily News, which cites the report by Indian media outlet The Economic Times, U.S. AI giant NVIDIA has proposed collaborating with India to develop AI chips, aiming to leverage the country’s semiconductor design talent and tap into its growing local market.

According to The Economic Times, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang proposed this idea during his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the U.S. earlier this year.

The Economic Times reported that Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Indian Union Minister for Electronics and IT, has confirmed that the country is currently in discussions with NVIDIA about jointly developing an AI chip. These discussions are still in the preliminary stage.

Citing local officials, the Economic Times indicated that NVIDIA intends to utilize India’s vast chip design talent pool to develop chips specifically for the Indian market. The government is currently discussing the details, including costs, benefits, and use cases.

This collaboratively developed chip could be tailored for specific use cases in the local market, such as the security system of Indian Railways, according to The Economic Times.

According to the press release from NVIDIA, the NVIDIA AI Summit India is scheduled to take place in Mumbai from October 23rd to 25th. The press release emphasized NVIDIA’s critical role in India’s emergence as an AI powerhouse, noting that the company has six locations across the country with over 4,000 employees.

Notably, CEO Jensen Huang will deliver a speech on October 24th, addressing how AI is revolutionizing industries worldwide and highlighting India’s growing significance as a global AI leader, as indicated by the press release.

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• [News] PSMC and Tata Electronics Finalize Partnership on 12-Inch Wafer Fab
• [News] India’s First AI Chip, Developed by Ola, Reportedly to Hit the Market by 2026

(Photo credit: NVIDIA)

Would Samsung finally be able to secure major orders from tech giants, even one of the world’s top AI companies? According to a report by The Information, the most successful and lucrative partnership in AI business, which is formed by NVIDIA and its foundry partner TSMC, is showing signs of strain, while Samsung may turn out to benefit from the development.

However, it is worth noting that the orders Samsung might get from NVIDIA may not be the most advanced AI chips. According to the reports by The Information and SamMobile, the U.S. AI chip giant is mulling to team up with Samsung to produce its new GPUs, which are considered less complex to manufacture than its AI accelerators.

The reports also suggest that NVIDIA is trying to secure discounted pricing from Samsung, as it aims for a 20-30% reduction compared to what it pays TSMC.

According to the analysis by SamMobile, NVIDIA’s move is an attempt to reduce its dependence on TSMC for upcoming chips, which is a positive development for Samsung.

Though the struggling semiconductor giant is said to have several clients for 5nm, 7nm and 8nm nodes, the continuous yield issues for 3nm and 4nm makes it unable to attract major customers, according to SamMobile, while the company now hopes to improve its yields and regain clients like Qualcomm and NVIDIA.

According to The Information, Samsung’s opportunities arise while NVIDIA’s Blackwell chips, built with TSMC’s 4nm, reportedly faced delays due to issues discovered in the testing process. The chips are said to have failed in high-voltage environments typical of data centers, which put strain on the decades-long partnership between the two firms.

For now, the issues have been resolved, and Team Green’s Blackwell chips are expected to ramp up starting from Q4 2024. According to a report by Wccftech, citing the projection by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Blackwell’s estimated shipments are expected to be around 150,000 to 200,000 units this quarter, and surging to 500,000 to 550,000 units in Q1 2025.

According to Kuo, Microsoft is believed to be the major customer, with its orders for GB200 in Q4 skyrocketing, rising 3 to 4 times from the previous range of 300 to 500 racks (primarily NVL36) to about 1,400 to 1,500 racks (approximately 70% NVL72).

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• [News] NVIDIA’s Blackwell Overcomes Delays, as GB200 Reportedly Sets for December Mass Production

(Photo credit: NVIDIA)