Nvidia unveils new ecosystem to keep it at center of AI development

US-based technology company Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang on Monday announced the new NVLink Fusion program, which will allow customers to install competitors' chips in data centers constructed on its own technology.

Nvidia's NVLink Fusion initiative will enable users and partners to use non-Nvidia central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) in conjunction with Nvidia's products and its NVLink, according to a statement by Nvidia.

"NVLink Fusion is so that you can build semi-custom AI infrastructure, not just semi-custom chips," Huang said at a tech conference in Taiwan.

Huang said that AI infrastructures may connect Nvidia processors with various CPUs and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) thanks to NVLink Fusion.

"In any case, you have the benefit of using the NVLink infrastructure and the NVLink ecosystem," he noted.

Huang also revealed plans to open a new office in Taiwan, where it will collaborate with Foxconn, the world's largest electronics manufacturer, to construct an AI supercomputer project.

"We are delighted to partner with Foxconn and Taiwan to help build Taiwan's AI infrastructure and to support TSMC and other leading companies to advance innovation in the age of AI and robotics," he noted.

On Sunday, Nvidia announced in a statement that MediaTek, Marvell, Alchip, Astera Labs, Synopsys and Cadence are already partners in the development of AI chips for NVLink Fusion.

It further noted that Nvidia's clients, such as Fujitsu and Qualcomm Technologies, will be able to link their own third-party CPUs with Nvidia's GPUs in AI data centers using NVLink Fusion.

"A tectonic shift is underway: for the first time in decades, data centers must be fundamentally rearchitected — AI is being fused into every computing platform," Huang said in the statement.

"NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia's AI platform and rich ecosystem for partners to build specialized AI infrastructures," he added.