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Since OpenAI launched its generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, in 2022 we have already witnessed many wonders from artificial intelligence.
However, if AI is to continue expanding its capability boundaries, it will require not only a vast amount of data but also advanced chips capable of powering its computational demands.
From training colossal neural networks to running intricate image recognition, natural language processing, voice recognition, machine translation, and autonomous systems, AI chips are the brawn behind the AI brain.
As this field explodes, many companies known for making the more traditional central processing units (CPUs) have shifted their focus to specialized processors for AI workloads — while new ones are springing up.
Given the rush for these specialized processors, the market has gained a revenue of $15.9 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $207 Billion by 2030, according to MarketDigits.
With many companies vying for dominance, understanding who these players are and their role in shaping the future of AI is crucial for businesses and individuals alike.
Key Takeaways
- The AI chip market surges on, driven by companies like SambaNova, Cerebras Systems, Qualcomm, IBM, Intel, AMD, and Nvidia.
- Revenue is projected to reach $207 billion by 2030, with these firms racing to develop chips powering advanced AI tasks.
- Nvidia dominates with a 95% market share, while newcomers like SambaNova are showing rapid growth.
- As competition increases, expect constant innovation across the industry..
- Show Full Guide
Top AI Chip Makers in 2024
In the round-up below, we examine the leading AI chip makers in 2024, including their latest AI flagships, market position, and more.
7. SambaNova
SambaNova Systems is a Palo Alto-based AI start-up founded in 2017. The company majors in developing hardware-software systems designed to power generative AI workloads from data centers to the cloud. In 2023, the company announced the release of its latest AI chip, SN40L, a testament to its readiness in the AI chip market.
Last February, SambaNova released Samba-1, a one trillion-parameter generative AI model comprising more than 50 open-source generative AI Models.
The company’s success in securing over $1.1 billion in funding shows the industry’s confidence in its vision and capabilities. SambaNova Systems, as of 2024, boasts a market capitalization of about $5.1 billion.
6. Cerebras Systems
Cerebras Systems has been at the forefront of AI chip technology since it was founded in 2015. In April 2021, they unveiled an AI chip model, the Cerebras WSE-2.
The WSE-2, with 850,000 cores and 2.6 trillion transistors, was a significant leap forward from its predecessor, the WSE-1, which had 1.2 trillion transistors and 400,000 processing cores.
Last March, the company announced the release of its latest AI chip, WSE-3, its third generation of waferscale AI mega chips. According to the company, the WSE-3 comes with 4 trillion transistors and can handle multi-trillion parameter generative AI tasks.
The company recently formed partnerships with Qualcomm to develop more advanced AI models, as well as with numerous pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.
Cerebras Systems is still a privately held company and is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in the second half of 2024.
The company was valued at over $4 billion in its 2021 funding round.
5. Qualcomm
Qualcomm is a major player in the semiconductor industry, known for pioneering Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology, which served as the basis for all 3G networks worldwide. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipsets are widely acclaimed for powering many mobile devices across the globe.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, unveiled in October 2023, is Qualcomm’s latest AI flagship chip. The company claims the chip is designed to bring advanced AI functions and features to Android flagship smartphones.
At this year’s MWC2024 in Barcelona, the company announced on X that it will be launching a more advanced AI chip, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, in October 2024. In the announcement, the company said the latest chip would bring more AI capabilities to Android devices.
The Sandiego-based chip designer currently enjoys a market cap of about $191.16 billion as of April 2024, with its stock priced at $173.29 per share.
4. IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is widely recognized for its contributions to technology such as the ATM, the magnetic stripe card, SQL programming language, UPC barcode, etc.
The company gained traction in 2023 when it launched North Pole, its new AI flagship chip — built on 12 nm node processing technology. IBM claims the chip is 25 times more energy efficient and offers significantly lower latency than a 12-nm GPU.
In the Q4 of 2023, IBM reported a total debt of $59.93 billion as opposed to the $54.01 billion in 2022. Going by recent data, IBM’s market cap is approximately $167.10 billion, with its stock price around $182.27 per share. The company’s revenue is projected to grow at a 4.17% rate from $61.86 billion in 2023 to $64.44 billion in 2024 and then to $67.38 billion in 2025.
3. Intel
The mention of Intel strikes a chord of familiarity, given its longevity in the computing sector. Founded in July 1968 in California, Intel is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of semiconductor chips used in a wide array of electronic devices.
With the AI era still in a boom cycle, Intel is making concerted efforts to regain its foothold in the rapidly growing AI chip market.
After encountering challenges with its previous Ponte Vecchio chip, Intel recently announced its new AI chip — Gaudi 3, which it claims will offer up to 1.7X the training performance, 50% better inference, and 40% better efficiency than Nvidia’s market-leading H100 processors. This chip is expected to be available to OEMs in the second Quarter of 2024.
While Intel’s long-term debt in 2023 was $49.3 billion, a significant increase from $42.1 billion in 2022, its revenue is projected to grow from $54.23 billion in 2023 to $58.56 billion in 2024. As of the time of this report, the company’s market cap hovers around $150.9 billion with $36 per share.
In February 2024, Intel partnered with Microsoft for a custom chip business worth about $15 billion. This led to Intel’s collaboration with UMC to develop a 12-nanometer process platform.
2. AMD
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has also made significant strides in the AI chip landscape.
The company showed that it’s a force to reckon with in the AI semiconductor market last December when it launched the MI300X GPU and MI300A APU, which it claimed had about 1.6X lead over Nvidia’s competing GPUs at the time.
To further strengthen its position, AMD has collaborated with machine learning companies, such as Hugging Face, to enable data scientists to leverage their hardware more efficiently.
While the competition between AMD and NVIDIA has been intense, AMD’s current market cap of about $263.88 billion and its stock price of $163.28 per share falls far below Nvidia’s. AMD’s total debt reported for 2023 was $3 billion. However, the chip designer is projected to have a revenue growth rate of 25.99%, going from $22.68 billion in 2023 to $26.06 billion in 2024.
1. Nvidia
Founded in April 1993, Invidia is widely renowned for designing and supplying graphics processing units (GPUs) for gaming, as well as other markets like data science, machine learning, and AI-powered applications.
In addition to Tesla, which uses the company’s AI chips in autonomous vehicles, Nvidia GPUs are widely used in data centers for accelerating AI workloads, with clients including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.
According to The Economist, Nvidia processors currently dominate the AI chip market with an estimated 95% share. The company’s market cap is approximately $2.22 trillion, and its stock price is around $881 per share as of April 2024.
Its total debt for the last quarter was $11.05 billion after it peaked in January 2023 at $12.03 billion. The company recently announced that it’s expected to bring in a revenue of $110.57 billion in the next fiscal year.
The tech giant has also launched a new AI chip — Blackwell B200, which is expected to gain early adoption by many tech giants, including Google, Meta, Amazon Web Services, Dell Technologies, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and Tesla.
The Bottom Line
The AI chip market is expanding, with these big players leading the way. As competition intensifies, we can expect more innovation and improvements in the AI sector as well as more breakout startups from the wild.
This progress has the potential to transform diverse industries and enhance the capabilities of AI applications. The innovations in AI chip designs are essential for a wide array of applications, data centers, driving progress (car manufacturing), and shaping the future of computing.
