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Nvidia\u2019s chief executive said he\u2019s interested in using Arm\u2019s network of partners to license its GPU technology\u2014and that it might be in your smartphone someday.<\/p>\n
In a conference call early Monday morning, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said he wants to use Arm\u2019s relationships as a distribution channel to license a broad set of Nvidia technology, including graphics. \u201cThe\u00a0first<\/span> obvious<\/span> thing<\/span> for<\/span> us<\/span>\u00a0to<\/span> make<\/span> available<\/span> through<\/span>\u00a0ARM\u2019s vast<\/span> network<\/span> is our<\/span>\u00a0GPU<\/span> and<\/span> our<\/span> accelerated<\/span> computing<\/span> architecture,\u201d Huang said in a conference call on Sunday evening.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Nvidia said Sunday that it had agreed to acquire Arm for up to $40 billion in cash and stock, in a deal that still has to pass regulatory approval. Huang described the deal as complementary, as the Arm technology will be used to bolster Nvidia\u2019s AI efforts and its push into the data center. But Nvidia\u2019s role as a GPU provider and Arm\u2019s dominance of the smartphone industry means that regulatory agencies may look hard at the proposed deal.<\/span><\/p>\n Nvidia, however, may have bought more than Arm\u2019s smartphone CPU cores; it may be leveraging its relationships, too.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201dI\u2019d like to take Nvidia\u2019s technology and offer it to all the companies that are building with Arm,\u201d Huang said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201dSOCs [system-on-chips] really don\u2019t have the benefit of the amazing GPUs that we make, and Nvidia is well known around the world for for the energy efficiency and advanced capabilities of our GPUs,\u201d Huang added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But what GPUs? Huang didn\u2019t say, and it\u2019s not clear if the GeForce brand will be coming to smartphones if this deal passes. Huang talked about the pervasiveness of the existing Mali core within Arm\u2019s CPUs, and implied that Nvidia could add its GPU technology to the mix. It seems likely that Nvidia would also be interested in designing its GPU cores into data center chips, as well, though the company\u2019s hardware already has a strong foothold there.\u00a0<\/p>\n What the deal implies, then, is that if Nvidia begins making its GPU technology through Arm\u2019s distribution channel, it will likely end up as part of Arm\u2019s cores. And since Arm dominates the smartphone market, it\u2019s very possible that a future Mali logic block within Arm\u2019s Cortex CPU cores could be powered by Nvidia. How soon will that happen? Well, Huang said he thinks the Nvidia-Arm deal could take a year or more to close, and that the two companies will operate independently until then, as defined by law. Only after the acquisition is completed can design work start.<\/p>\n