NVIDIA, a leading provider of artificial intelligence solutions, is facing significant technical hurdles in mass producing its next-generation Blackwell architecture chip, the GB200. The company’s efforts to meet growing demand for high-performance computing chips have been hampered by issues with the backplane connection design, specifically the testing yield for cartridge connectors provided by U.S. Tier-1 supplier Amphenol.
According to sources within the supply chain, the GB200 chips’ complex cabinet design and advanced packaging technology from TSMC are contributing to the problems. The complexity has led to overheating issues in chip design, leakage problems with quantum dots (QUDs), and now insufficient yield rates for copper cables. As a result, NVIDIA’s mass production plans have been delayed until March 2025.
Despite announcing that Blackwell production is fully underway during its recent earnings call, supply constraints remain a pressing issue for the company. To address this, NVIDIA is actively seeking alternative suppliers but faces challenges such as patent restrictions and capacity ramp-up delays. In response to the issues, Microsoft has cut its orders for NVIDIA by 40% and redirected some of those resources to the GB300 chips set for release in mid-2025.
Source: https://www.trendforce.com/news/2024/12/02/news-production-hurdles-for-gb200-spark-rumors-of-microsoft-cutting-orders