Nvidia says new AI chip is up to 30 times faster

STORY: Nvidia unveiled a new, speedier AI chip on Monday that may help it extend its lead in artificial intelligence.

“And so, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to introduce you to a very, very big GPU.”

Chief Executive Jensen Huang unveiled the chip, called the ‘B200 Blackwell,’ at the company’s annual developer conference.

It takes two squares of silicon each the size of the company's current must-have chip, the H100, and binds them together into a single piece.

Nvidia said the B200 is 30 times speedier than its previous chip at tasks like serving up answers from chatbots.

But Huang did not give specific details on price or how well it performs when training those chatbots, which has generally been Nvidia’s bread and butter.

The company also said major customers including Amazon, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI are expected to use the new chip for their own AI offerings.

Still, the news seemed to fail to provide new fuel for a rally which has seen Nvidia soar to become the third-most valuable company in the US over the past year -- and Nvidia stock dipped 1.4% during the keynote.

What Nvidia announced Monday will help decide whether the company can maintain its 80% share of the market for AI chips.

Many analysts expect Nvidia's market share to drop several points this year as new products from competitors come to market and Nvidia's largest customers make their own chips.