NVIDIA’s GPUs powered the AI revolution. Its new Blackwell chips are up to 30 times faster

In less than two years, NVIDIA’s H100 chips, which are used by nearly every AI company in the world to train large language models that power services like ChatGPT, made it one of the world’s most valuable companies. On Monday, NVIDIA announced a next-generation platform called Blackwell, whose chips are between seven and 30 times faster than the H100 and use 25 times less power.

“Blackwell GPUs are the engine to power this new Industrial Revolution,” said NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang at the company’s annual GTC event in San Jose attended by thousands of developers, and which some compared to a Taylor Swift concert. “Generative AI is the defining technology of our time. Working with the most dynamic companies in the world, we will realize the promise of AI for every industry,” Huang added in a press release.

NVIDIA’s Blackwell chips are named in honor of David Harold Blackwell, a mathematician who specialized in game theory and statistics. NVIDIA claims that Blackwell is the world’s most powerful chip. It offers a significant performance upgrade to AI companies with speeds of 20 petaflops compared to just 4 petaflops that the H100 provided. Much of this speed is made possible thanks the 208 billion transistors in Blackwell chips compared to 80 billion in the H100. To achieve this, NVIDIA connected two large chip dies that can talk to each other at speeds up to 10 terabytes per second.

In a sign of just how dependent our modern AI revolution is on NVIDIA’s chips, the company’s press release includes testimonials from seven CEOs who collectively lead companies worth trillions of dollars. They include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, Dell CEO Michael Dell, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

“There is currently nothing better than NVIDIA hardware for AI,” Musk says in the statement. "Blackwell offers massive performance leaps, and will accelerate our ability to deliver leading-edge models. We’re excited to continue working with NVIDIA to enhance AI compute,” Altman says.

NVIDIA did not disclose how much Blackwell chips would cost. Its H100 chips currently run between 25,000 and $40,000 per chip, according to CNBC, and entire systems powered by these chips can cost as much as $200,000.

Despite their costs, NVIDIA’s chips are in high demand. Last year, delivery wait times were as high as 11 months. And having access to NVIDIA’s AI chips is increasingly seen as a status symbol for tech companies looking to attract AI talent. Earlier this year, Zuckerberg touted the company’s efforts to build “a massive amount of infrastructure” to power Meta’s AI efforts. “At the end of this year,” Zuckerberg wrote, “we will have ~350k Nvidia H100s — and overall ~600k H100s H100 equivalents of compute if you include other GPUs.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nvidias-gpus-powered-the-ai-revolution-its-new-blackwell-chips-are-up-to-30-times-faster-001059577.html?src=rss

The Morning After: TikTok bans and Airbnb cams

The biggest story this week was TikTok and the US government going at it again, with the house voting in favor of a bill that could force TikTok's parent company to sell to a US owner or face getting banned outright. Don't worry, though; your elected officials didn't waste the chance to embarrass themselves, as usual. Meanwhile, Mike Tyson comes out of retirement to box for Netflix. He'll face-off against Jake Paul, which I feel is best represented by this Punch-Out! tweet.  

This week's stories:

✅🕣⛔️ House passes bill that could ban TikTok

🥊🥊😵 The real fight isn't Tyson vs. Paul — it's Netflix vs. its livestreaming infrastructure

📹🏨 Airbnb to hosts: please stop filming the guests

And read this:

To celebrate this website's 20th anniversary, we're looking back at the products and services that have changed the industry since Engadget's inception on March 2, 2004. I've also been here for over half of its existence. Horrifying. I'd share my not-great first hands-on video for the site, but the footage only lives on through Russian content scrapers. What a shame.

All of the stories live here, but I suggest starting with our stories on how streaming video changed the internet and the game-changer that was (and is) Bluetooth audio.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-tiktok-bans-and-airbnb-cams-150046760.html?src=rss

The Morning After: TikTok bans and Airbnb cams

The biggest story this week was TikTok and the US government going at it again, with the house voting in favor of a bill that could force TikTok's parent company to sell to a US owner or face getting banned outright. Don't worry, though; your elected officials didn't waste the chance to embarrass themselves, as usual. Meanwhile, Mike Tyson comes out of retirement to box for Netflix. He'll face-off against Jake Paul, which I feel is best represented by this Punch-Out! tweet.  

This week's stories:

✅🕣⛔️ House passes bill that could ban TikTok

🥊🥊😵 The real fight isn't Tyson vs. Paul — it's Netflix vs. its livestreaming infrastructure

📹🏨 Airbnb to hosts: please stop filming the guests

And read this:

To celebrate this website's 20th anniversary, we're looking back at the products and services that have changed the industry since Engadget's inception on March 2, 2004. I've also been here for over half of its existence. Horrifying. I'd share my not-great first hands-on video for the site, but the footage only lives on through Russian content scrapers. What a shame.

All of the stories live here, but I suggest starting with our stories on how streaming video changed the internet and the game-changer that was (and is) Bluetooth audio.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-tiktok-bans-and-airbnb-cams-150046760.html?src=rss

Netflix will stream the Mark Twain Prize honoring Kevin Hart on May 11

Netflix is the new streaming home of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor as part of a multiyear deal. This year's prize is going to Kevin Hart, who is being honored for his "extraordinary contributions to the genre and his impressive achievements across comedy, film and television." The likes of Dave Chappelle, Jimmy Fallon, Tiffany Haddish, Regina Hall, Chelsea Handler, Nelly, Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld are set to pay tribute to Hart (and perhaps roast him a bit) at the ceremony. For what it's worth, Hart inked a multiyear movie deal with Netflix in 2021.

The Mark Twain Prize is in its 25th year and it's perhaps one of the most prestigious comedy awards in the US. It's awarded to those who have had "an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, best known as Mark Twain," a press release notes. Previous recipients include Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, George Carlin, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Carol Burnett, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, David Letterman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jon Stewart and Adam Sandler.

The ceremony takes place on March 24 at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington DC. You'll be able to watch it when it hits Netflix on May 11. That's during the Netflix is a Joke festival, a series of stand-up shows taking place in Los Angeles that will also stream on the platform. Netflix has a rich history of comedy specials and shows at this point, so it seems like a natural fit for the Mark Twain Prize, which was previously broadcast on Comedy Central, PBS and CNN.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-will-stream-the-mark-twain-prize-honoring-kevin-hart-on-may-11-162300362.html?src=rss

New Netflix movie Atlas puts J-Lo in a giant mech

There aren't enough films that put movie stars in mechs and task them with saving the world. But that's just what Netflix flick Atlas is doing with Jennifer Lopez.

She plays Atlas Shepherd, "a brilliant but misanthropic data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence," who joins a team that's aiming to secure a renegade robot. As it happens, Atlas and said machine share "a mysterious past," according to Netflix. Inevitably, things don't go as planned. Atlas finds herself stuck on a distant planet (a long way from any block), inside a robot she has to trust to help her protect life back home.

The first trailer doesn't shed much more light on the plot, but it does have plenty of explosive visuals. Titanfall springs to mind here, especially since it shows a mech dropping from the sky to the surface. Sadly, it's probably the closest we'll ever get to a proper Titanfall film.

Atlas also stars Simu Liu and Sterling K. Brown. The film is directed by Brad Peyton (San Andreas, Rampage). It'll hit Netflix on May 24. In the meantime, Team Engadget couldn't help but come up with some alternative titles:

  • Mech In Manhattan

  • Jenny from the Bot

  • This is Mech... now

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-netflix-movie-atlas-puts-j-lo-in-a-giant-mech-150742144.html?src=rss

New Netflix movie Atlas puts J-Lo in a giant mech

There aren't enough films that put movie stars in mechs and task them with saving the world. But that's just what Netflix flick Atlas is doing with Jennifer Lopez.

She plays Atlas Shepherd, "a brilliant but misanthropic data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence," who joins a team that's aiming to secure a renegade robot. As it happens, Atlas and said machine share "a mysterious past," according to Netflix. Inevitably, things don't go as planned. Atlas finds herself stuck on a distant planet (a long way from any block), inside a robot she has to trust to help her protect life back home.

The first trailer doesn't shed much more light on the plot, but it does have plenty of explosive visuals. Titanfall springs to mind here, especially since it shows a mech dropping from the sky to the surface. Sadly, it's probably the closest we'll ever get to a proper Titanfall film.

Atlas also stars Simu Liu and Sterling K. Brown. The film is directed by Brad Peyton (San Andreas, Rampage). It'll hit Netflix on May 24. In the meantime, Team Engadget couldn't help but come up with some alternative titles:

  • Mech In Manhattan

  • Jenny from the Bot

  • This is Mech... now

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-netflix-movie-atlas-puts-j-lo-in-a-giant-mech-150742144.html?src=rss

Oppenheimer ruled 2024 Oscars as Apple TV+ and Netflix were nearly shut out

Despite combining for 32 nominations, Netflix and Apple TV+ were nearly shut out of of the 2024 Oscars, with Netflix winning a single award for Wes Anderson's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Best Live Action Short Film). The big surprise was Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple TV+) not gaining a single statue, notably Lily Gladstone losing the Best Actress prize to Poor Things' Emma Stone. 

Universal was the big winner with Oppenheimer (Best Picture, Best Director, editing, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, original score, cinematography) while Poor Things (Disney's Searchlight Pictures) garnered four prizes. The other half of "Barbenheimer," (Barbie, ofc) took just a single prize for best song with Billy Eilish's What Was I Made For (and not I'm Just Ken, sung live at the ceremony by supporting actor nominee Ryan Gosling). 

The gala was a letdown for Netflix, which scored six prizes last year. Netflix has won 23 Oscars since 2017, but has yet to win in the Best Picture or Best Actor/Actress categories. That's despite four nominations this year for Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan (Maestro), Colman Domingo for Rustin and Annette Bening for Nyad

Lily Gladstone was perhaps slightly favored over Stone to win for Killers of the Flower Moon and she also would have been the first Indigenous American to win an Academy Award for Best Actor or Actress. The studio was also up for Best Supporting Actor with nominee Robert De Niro and Best Director for Scorsese. Apart from Gladstone's loss, though, awards were distributed largely as anticipated. 

This year, it couldn't be said that judges were swayed by a lack of theatrical presence from streamers. Killers of the Flower Moon had a fairly wide release in cinemas, while Maestro stayed in theaters for a month prior to its Netflix release. Both chalked up decent box office numbers. 

The ceremony itself appears to have been watchable, with Deadline proclaiming that producers "finally made an Academy Awards ceremony for the 21st century" and The Hollywood Reporter calling it "busy and eclectic." USA Today did describe it as "boring," but every Oscars for the past 20 years has gotten the same knock.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oppenheimer-ruled-2024-oscars-as-apple-tv-and-netflix-were-nearly-shut-out-052543094.html?src=rss

AI Marilyn Monroe adds to the list of dead celebrities digitally resurrected without consent

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent years about the practice of capitalizing on celebrities’ digital likenesses without their consent, whether after they die or while they’re still alive. Zelda Williams, for one — the Lisa Frankenstein director and daughter of Robin Williams — slammed the “disturbing” trend of people trying to recreate the voices and faces of the deceased last year, as striking actors fought for, among other things, better protections around studios’ potential use of AI clones. Yet despite the obvious ethical issues, companies keep doing it. The latest? Soul Machines just unveiled “Digital Marilyn,” an AI chatbot designed to look and talk just like Marilyn Monroe.

The company, which specializes in what it refers to as Biological AI-powered Digital People, debuted the Marilyn bot at SXSW on Friday in a partnership with Authentic Brands Group. ABG owns the rights to Monroe’s likeness and those of numerous other celebrities both dead and living, including Elvis Presley and Shaq. Digital Marilyn, powered by GPT 3.5, is “hyper-real” and capable of responding with “emotions and nuanced expressions,” Soul Machines says in a press release. She can hold a roughly 20-minute conversation.

“More than just an impressive impersonation, Digital Marilyn is an autonomous Digital Person capable of engaging in natural, dynamic conversations that feel authentic and responsive,” Soul Machines wrote in a blog post. “It’s as if the spark of Marilyn herself has been translated into the AI age, offering a unique and deeply personal connection for both devoted fans and curious newcomers.” Anyone else’s skin crawling?

Soul Machines touts its digital celebrities (there are others, including an upcoming Carmelo Anthony bot) as a way for famous people to “engage 1-on-1 with their fans, without limits” and “deliver 24/7 connection.” Notably, all of the other AI celebrities the company currently offers chats with — Mark Tuan, Francis Ngannou and Jack Nicklaus — are men who are alive and thus able to weigh-in on their inclusion. Soul Machines introduced its Marilyn Monroe AI to the public with an Instagram post for International Women’s Day, because nothing says “celebrate women” like exploiting the likeness of a female celebrity who is no longer around to give permission.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai-marilyn-monroe-adds-to-the-list-of-dead-celebrities-digitally-resurrected-without-consent-184554216.html?src=rss

AI Marilyn Monroe adds to the list of dead celebrities digitally resurrected without consent

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent years about the practice of capitalizing on celebrities’ digital likenesses without their consent, whether after they die or while they’re still alive. Zelda Williams, for one — the Lisa Frankenstein director and daughter of Robin Williams — slammed the “disturbing” trend of people trying to recreate the voices and faces of the deceased last year, as striking actors fought for, among other things, better protections around studios’ potential use of AI clones. Yet despite the obvious ethical issues, companies keep doing it. The latest? Soul Machines just unveiled “Digital Marilyn,” an AI chatbot designed to look and talk just like Marilyn Monroe.

The company, which specializes in what it refers to as Biological AI-powered Digital People, debuted the Marilyn bot at SXSW on Friday in a partnership with Authentic Brands Group. ABG owns the rights to Monroe’s likeness and those of numerous other celebrities both dead and living, including Elvis Presley and Shaq. Digital Marilyn, powered by GPT 3.5, is “hyper-real” and capable of responding with “emotions and nuanced expressions,” Soul Machines says in a press release. She can hold a roughly 20-minute conversation.

“More than just an impressive impersonation, Digital Marilyn is an autonomous Digital Person capable of engaging in natural, dynamic conversations that feel authentic and responsive,” Soul Machines wrote in a blog post. “It’s as if the spark of Marilyn herself has been translated into the AI age, offering a unique and deeply personal connection for both devoted fans and curious newcomers.” Anyone else’s skin crawling?

Soul Machines touts its digital celebrities (there are others, including an upcoming Carmelo Anthony bot) as a way for famous people to “engage 1-on-1 with their fans, without limits” and “deliver 24/7 connection.” Notably, all of the other AI celebrities the company currently offers chats with — Mark Tuan, Francis Ngannou and Jack Nicklaus — are men who are alive and thus able to weigh-in on their inclusion. Soul Machines introduced its Marilyn Monroe AI to the public with an Instagram post for International Women’s Day, because nothing says “celebrate women” like exploiting the likeness of a female celebrity who is no longer around to give permission.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai-marilyn-monroe-adds-to-the-list-of-dead-celebrities-digitally-resurrected-without-consent-184554216.html?src=rss

The real fight isn’t Tyson vs. Paul — it’s Netflix vs. its livestreaming infrastructure

Netflix has been experimenting with live sports over the last few months with golf and tennis exhibition events. The company has announced the biggest test for its livestreaming capabilities to date: a boxing match between YouTuber (and pro boxer) Jake Paul and former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

The fight is going to be a spectacle for a number of reasons. Both fighters bring star power to the table. There's a 30-year age gap between them. Despite his 9-1 record, Paul can hardly be described as an elite fighter. While Tyson is regarded as one of the best heavyweights of all time, he retired 19 years ago and has only fought in two matches since then. Paul's second match was on the undercard of Tyson's last bout, which was against Roy Jones Jr. in 2020.

The battle will take place at the 80,000-capacity AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It's bound to attract a decent audience through Netflix as well. Most major boxing matches are on pay per view, but Netflix's 260 million subscribers will be able to watch at no extra cost.

Netflix hasn't released viewership figures for the Netflix Cup (its golf event) or the Netflix Slam (a recent tennis exhibition). Combat sports tend to deliver high viewership, though, suggesting that Netflix's infrastructure will have to handle more simultaneous streams than any of its other live events so far.

The company has dabbled with other live events over the last year or so, including a Chris Rock comedy special, the SAG Awards and a weekly cooking show with David Chang. However, the company has faced issues with livestreams in the past — it was forced to abandon plans for a live Love is Blind reunion due to technical issues.

Netflix has around nine months to make sure its livestreaming capabilities are in order before it embarks on its most ambitious sports (well, sports-adjacent) project yet. Starting in January, Netflix will be the home of WWE's live weekly shows in many markets, including the flagship program Raw in the US.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-real-fight-isnt-tyson-vs-paul--its-netflix-vs-its-livestreaming-infrastructure-190924232.html?src=rss