Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving fast and changing the way we live and work. But AI wouldn’t be possible without the right hardware. AI systems needs GPUs and advanced CPUs to process huge amounts of data quickly and efficiently. AI applications like self-driving cars need sensors and memory chips. That’s why the demand for high-performance components is soaring, which puts pressure on the supply chain. Companies making non-AI systems sometimes find themselves competing for components with the AI giants.

Necessity brings Invention, and NVIDIA

Over the past five years, the power of chips used for AI has increased dramatically. Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and specialised AI chips like Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) have become far more powerful, handling larger datasets and more complex models at much higher speeds. Innovations in chip architecture have significantly improved performance and energy efficiency. This has enabled faster training times, increasing the scope for real-time AI applications, and the development of advanced generative AI tools and large language models.

NVIDIA is the major supplier of chips for AI.  This started almost by chance, when the developers of AI systems found that NVIDIA’s graphics processor chips were the best for the job.  The company has worked hard, and successfully, to increase the power of it’s chips. It has achieved a performance increase for AI of over 1,000 times in eight years.

The company’s  growth reflects the growth of AI.  In the financial year 2024/5, NVIDIA reported revenue of $130.5 billion, more than doubling its revenue of $60.9 billion in the previous year. Currently it is the second most valuable publicly traded company globally, behind Microsoft and ahead of Apple.