The geopolitics of chips: Nvidia and the AI boom

The geopolitics of chips: Nvidia and the AI boom

Author: Financial Times December 3, 2024 Duration: 23:30


Amid the artificial intelligence boom, demand for AI chips has exploded. But this push for chips also creates new challenges for countries and companies. How will countries cope with the huge amounts of energy these chips consume? Will anyone compete with Nvidia to supply the AI chips of the future? And can China develop its own chips to fuel its own AI development? 


James Kynge visits a data centre to find out how advanced AI chips are causing new problems for the sector. In Phoenix, Arizona, James meets Mark Bauer, co-leader with JLL's Data Center Solutions group, and Frank Eichenhorst, vice president of data centre operations at PhoenixNAP. 


How will the clash of titans play out between NVIDIA and Big Tech? And we hear from Amir Salek, senior managing director at Cerberus Capital and the brains behind Google’s TPU chip; Tamay Besiroglu, associate director of Epoch AI; Dylan Patel, lead analyst at consulting firm SemiAnalysis; and the FT’s global tech correspondent Tim Bradshaw to find out more about the battle for AI chips. 


SMIC did not respond to a request for comment.


Free links to read more on this topic:

Nvidia and the AI boom face a scaling problem

Chip challengers try to break Nvidia’s grip on AI market 

Amazon steps up effort to build AI chips that can rival Nvidia

TSMC says it alerted US to potential violation of China AI chip controls


Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Joseph Enrick Salcedo, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Tim Bradshaw.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


From the Financial Times, FT Tech Tonic steps beyond the breathless headlines and gadget launches to explore how technology is fundamentally reshaping our lives, economies, and social structures. This isn't just a series about the latest app; it's a deep, considered examination of the forces driving the digital age and their often unintended consequences. Each episode grapples with the complex interplay between innovation and its real-world impact, drawing on the FT's global reporting expertise to provide clarity and context. You'll hear conversations that dissect the power dynamics in Silicon Valley, investigate the ethical dilemmas of artificial intelligence, and explore how entrepreneurship is being redefined across different cultures. The podcast digs into the substance behind the hype, asking whether emerging technologies truly deliver on their promise to improve society or if they introduce new perils we are only beginning to understand. By weaving together threads from technology, business, and culture, the discussions offer a nuanced perspective that challenges simplistic narratives. Tune in for thoughtful analysis that connects the dots between boardroom strategies, algorithmic biases, and the everyday experiences that define our increasingly connected world.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

FT Tech Tonic
Podcast Episodes
Coming soon: China, the new tech superpower [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07
In a new season of Tech Tonic, longtime FT China reporter James Kynge travels around the world to see how China is pushing towards tech supremacy. Will China be able to get an edge in crucial technological areas? What do…
Introducing: Swamp Notes from The FT News Briefing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11
If you have questions about this year's US presidential election, we have answers.Swamp Notes is a new podcast from the FT News Briefing. Listen every Saturday morning as our journalists analyse and discuss the latest ha…
Introducing Untold: The Retreat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:57
Introducing Untold, a new podcast from the special investigations team at the Financial Times. In its first series, The Retreat, host Madison Marriage examines the world of the Goenka network, which promotes a type of in…
Superintelligent AI: Conscious Machines [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:27
As the race to human-level AI accelerates, researchers are increasingly confronted with the question of what it would mean to develop conscious AI. Will sentience emerge naturally from powerfully intelligent artificial s…
Superintelligent AI: Transhumanism etc. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:59
What are the ideas driving the pursuit of human-level AI? In the penultimate episode of this Tech Tonic series, hosts Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill look at some of the futuristic objectives that are at the centre o…
Superintelligent AI: can chatbots think? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:36
Are generative AI systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT really intelligent? Large language models such as GPT 4 appear to use human-level cognitive abilities when they engage in legal reasoning, write essays or solve complex…
Superintelligent AI: The Utopians [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:48
If even AI companies are fretting about the existential threat that human-level AI poses, why are they building these machines in the first place? And as they press ahead, a debate is raging about how we regulate this em…
Superintelligent AI: The Doomers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:47
In the first episode of a new, five-part series of Tech Tonic, FT journalists Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill ask how close we are to building human-level artificial intelligence and whether ‘superintelligent’ AI pos…
Coming soon: Superintelligent AI [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:10
In a new series of Tech Tonic, FT journalists Madhumita Murgia and John Thornhill look at the concerns around the rise of artificial intelligence. Will superintelligent AI bring existential risk, or a new renaissance? Wo…
Can AI help us speak to animals? Part two [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:50
A hardware revolution in recording devices and a software revolution in artificial intelligence has convinced some scientists that humans will eventually be able to ‘translate’ animal and even plant sounds into human lan…