NVIDIA GPUs are in high demand for machines running AI

NVIDIA has placed additional orders for wafer supply at TSMC in response to the surging demand for its top AI GPUs, such as the A100 and H100 models. This increased…

By Nivedita Bangari

May 13, 2023

3 min read

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NVIDIA has placed additional orders for wafer supply at TSMC in response to the surging demand for its top AI GPUs, such as the A100 and H100 models. This increased demand has the potential to disrupt the supply of gaming chips, as NVIDIA is focusing more resources on AI, which it considers a revolutionary technology for the PC and tech industry. Nevertheless, NVIDIA is working tirelessly to ensure a sufficient chip supply for its major partners who are willing to pay a premium for these world-class AI chips.

According to reports from DigiTimes, NVIDIA is specifically requesting chips that utilize the CoWoS packaging technology.

CoWoS, also known as Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate, is a packaging technology deployed in NVIDIA’s high-end data center and cloud GPUs that utilize HBM memory. The current Ampere line of A100 GPUs and the upcoming Hopper line of H100 GPUs, which are primarily used for AI and machine learning applications, employ this technology.

TSMC, with its monthly capacity to produce around 8000-9000 CoWoS wafers, will need to accommodate an additional 10,000 wafers throughout 2023 due to NVIDIA’s increased order. This heightened demand has also sparked optimism at TSMC about the growth potential of its CoWoS technology.

Another company using the CoWoS technology is AMD, which will be supplying its Instinct-class chips to Microsoft. While there were rumors of a new chip under the codename “Athena” to counter AMD’s offerings, it has been clarified that Microsoft will instead utilize existing and upcoming AMD accelerators to power its AI initiatives.

Bloomberg updated the article

Frank Shaw, a Microsoft spokesman, denied that AMD is part of Athena. “AMD is a great partner,” he said. “However, they are not involved in Athena.”
— Dylan Patel (@dylan522p) May 5, 2023

China is also experiencing significant demand for the green teams latest AI GPUs, despite the fact that the variants offered to them may lack certain advanced interconnect fabrics. The prices offered to Chinese customers are notably higher than those in regions not affected by US technology sanctions. It remains to be seen whether the green team will reduce the production of A800 and H800 GPUs in favor of the standard A100 and H100 GPUs.

Overall, the growing demand for AI GPUs has led NVIDIA to secure additional wafer supply and tighten the partnership with TSMC, while also fueling optimism for the future of CoWoS technology.

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