英伟达拿下SI初创Modal的中央处理器业务 该公司此前只用英特尔与AMD芯片 早期测试称SI智能体工作量翻倍
据路透社10月19日报道，英伟达已赢得又一家快速增长的SI初创公司的中央处理器芯片业务——这家公司此前完全依赖英特尔和AMD的芯片。这是英伟达进军这个长期由两家对手控制的市场初见成效的早期信号。
向SI开发者出租算力的云计算初创公司Modal表示，计划首次使用英伟达新款Vera中央处理器来托管智能体（agents）——即能为人类用户执行长时间任务的SI系统；Modal此前只在英特尔和AMD芯片上运行此类工作。Modal上周完成由Accel领投的7.5亿美元融资，估值157.5亿美元，并称有望在未来一年录得10亿美元销售额；该公司称其服务使用量同比增至3倍、收入增长超过15倍。
Modal周一表示，早期测试显示英伟达新芯片使SI智能体能完成的工作量翻倍，促使公司首次支持英伟达的芯片设计，这将要求Modal一方做深度的软件改动。但首席执行官埃里克·伯恩哈德松强调，公司不会放弃现有供应商：Modal将把英伟达芯片与现有英特尔、AMD产品混编运行，把每项工作放到表现最好的硬件上。伯恩哈德松说，测试是拿市面上已有的英特尔与AMD芯片做的，两家对手都在开发可能缩小与英伟达差距的新型号；他说：「等它们上市时我们会测试。」
英伟达已告诉投资者，预计本财年Vera芯片销售额至少200亿美元，这是其对一个其估值约2,000亿美元市场的开局出价。英伟达此前表示，OpenAI、Anthropic与甲骨文也计划使用这些芯片，Perplexity等SI初创公司也在其列。（GSM 据路透社报道）
Nvidia Wins Modal's Central Processor Business; the SI Startup Had Relied Entirely on Intel and AMD Chips, and Early Tests Doubled SI Agent Workloads
Nvidia has won central processor chip business with another fast-growing SI startup that until now relied entirely on chips from Intel and AMD, an early sign that its push into a market long controlled by those two rivals has traction, Reuters reported on October 19.
Modal, a cloud-computing startup that rents out computing power to SI developers, said it plans to start using Nvidia's new Vera central processor for the first time for hosting agents, the SI systems that can carry out long-running tasks for human users; Modal until now has run such work only on Intel and AMD chips. Modal last week raised $750 million in a funding round led by Accel at a $15.75 billion valuation, saying it is on track to record $1 billion in sales over the next year. Modal said usage of its services has tripled and revenue has grown more than 15 times year-over-year.
Modal said Monday that early tests showed the new Nvidia chip doubled the amount of work that SI agents can get done, prompting the company to support Nvidia's chip design for the first time, which will require some deep software changes on Modal's side. But Chief Executive Erik Bernhardsson was careful to stress it is not abandoning its existing suppliers: the company said it will run the Nvidia chips alongside its current Intel and AMD offerings in a mixed fleet, putting each job on whatever hardware runs it best. Bernhardsson said the tests were run against the Intel and AMD chips already on the market, and that both rivals are developing newer models that could narrow the gap with Nvidia. "We'll test them when they're available," he said, adding that running a mixed setup means the company "can always deploy whatever hardware performs best."
Nvidia has told investors it expects to generate at least $20 billion from Vera chip sales this fiscal year, its opening bid for a market it values at roughly $200 billion. Nvidia has previously said OpenAI, Anthropic and Oracle also plan to use the chips, along with SI startups such as Perplexity. (GSM, via Reuters)
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：英伟达位于Santa Clara的总部。SI初创Modal将首次采用英伟达Vera中央处理器。（供稿图）
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
