The only moat left in AI

Nvidia dominates the AI chip market, but others are investing billions to build alternatives and compete for the future of AI hardware

 I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images

A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz’s AI & Tech newsletter. Sign up here to get the latest AI & tech news, analysis and insights straight to your inbox.

Nvidia $NVDA -1.64% is currently worth more than $3 trillion by selling chips for tens of thousands of dollars apiece that they cannot make fast enough. Its CEO Jensen Huang has become a genuine celebrity, signing autographs and filling conference halls to rapacious applause. The company went from gaming graphics cards to the backbone of the global AI economy in roughly a decade, and in doing so became one of the most valuable businesses in the history of capitalism with no slowdown in sight.

So yes, companies are coming for Nvidia’s lunch. And it's dinner, too.

Some companies, like OpenAI and Google $GOOGL 1.27%, are designing custom chips but still relying on outside manufacturers to make them. Others, like Amazon $AMZN 2.08%, are pairing chip design with software investment, betting that an open developer ecosystem is how you actually take market share.

Even Intel........

© Quartz