Nvidia unveils next-gen AI chips at “Super Bowl of AI” conference

Nvidia’s CEO hailed the company’s latest chip announcements at what he called the “Super Bowl of AI,” showcasing the hardware giant’s continued dominance in the AI infrastructure race. The annual GPU Tech Conference in San Jose attracted 25,000 attendees and major tech sponsors, highlighting AI’s growing influence across industries despite ongoing concerns about job displacement, creative rights, and safety risks.

The big picture: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiled new advanced chips during a two-hour unscripted keynote at the company’s annual GPU Tech Conference in San Jose, positioning the hardware maker to maintain its leadership in AI infrastructure.

• The company announced its Blackwell Ultra graphics processing unit scheduled for release in the second half of 2025, followed by the Vera Rubin chip (named for the renowned astronomer) in 2026.
• Nvidia has emerged as one of the primary beneficiaries of the AI boom, with its stock rising 30% over the past year despite recent declines in the past quarter.

What they’re saying: Huang framed the conference as a defining moment for the industry while acknowledging AI’s rapid evolution.

• “GTC was described as the Woodstock of AI. This year it’s described as the Super Bowl of AI,” Huang said. “The only difference is, everybody wins.”
• “AI is going through an inflection point,” Huang explained. “It has become more useful because it’s smarter. It can reason. It is more used. And the amount of computation to train those models… has grown tremendously.”

Industry participation: The conference demonstrated widespread corporate adoption of AI technology across diverse sectors.

• Tech giants like Google and Amazon sponsored the event, while Huang noted that “just about every industry is represented,” including retail and healthcare.
• In a significant partnership announced during the conference, General Motors and Nvidia revealed plans to jointly develop driver-assistance systems and next-generation vehicles, following GM’s closure of its autonomous vehicle startup Cruise.

Counterpoints: Despite the industry enthusiasm, AI continues to face significant societal concerns.

• Critics worry about AI’s potential to eliminate jobs and have raised alarms about generative AI’s consumption of artistic works to train algorithms without proper compensation.
• Broader concerns include AI’s role in creating misinformation and the technology’s privacy and safety implications.