- Nvidia’s (NVDA) upcoming chip faces months-long delays due to “major” issues, with no fix in sight, as the company blames partners including Microsoft (MSFT), continuing a pattern of deflecting responsibility, per Semi Accurate.
- Historical examples, such as Fermi’s memory bus and HBM packaging issues, show Nvidia repeatedly attributing its design flaws to TSMC, a tactic echoed in the current chip development setback.
- The unresolved problem, likely Nvidia’s fault despite a slim chance otherwise, risks straining partnerships and could impact its competitive edge in the AI and GPU markets.
Nvidia (NVDA) is grappling with significant setbacks in the development of an upcoming chip, facing delays of several months due to what technology news site Semi Accurate describes as “major” issues, with no resolution currently in sight. The company, known for its dominance in the AI and GPU market, has a history of deflecting blame onto its partners—a pattern highlighted by the publication. This was evident in past incidents, such as the Fermi chip’s memory bus design flaws, which Nvidia publicly attributed to TSMC, despite the issue originating from its own design. Similarly, challenges with high-bandwidth memory (HBM) packaging were pinned on TSMC, while earlier Tegra 2 problems followed a similar narrative, with Nvidia repeatedly avoiding accountability, as reported by Semi Accurate.
This time, Nvidia’s finger-pointing extends to Microsoft (MSFT), a new target in its blame-shifting strategy, alongside other unnamed partners, though the specifics of the chip and the precise nature of the problem remain undisclosed. The delay underscores the complexities of advanced chip design, particularly as Nvidia pushes the boundaries of AI and high-performance computing, where even minor design missteps can lead to significant production hurdles. Late last year Nvidia faced challenges with its Blackwell chips, where a design flaw, acknowledged by CEO Jensen Huang, required TSMC’s intervention to recover production yields, suggesting a recurring theme of design-related issues. The absence of a fix for the current problem, coupled with Nvidia’s public criticism of partners, risks straining relationships with key collaborators like TSMC and Microsoft, potentially impacting its supply chain and market competitiveness in a rapidly evolving semiconductor landscape.
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All high end chips run into challenges during development- this is nothing new. The fact is NVDA has a very good track record of resolving issues and many times this requires working with the fab, packaging and memory partners. This article seems to try and paint the picture that NVDA doesn’t know what it is doing – that just not the case.