At the 51st SIGGRAPH conference in Denver on July 29, a high-profile dialogue unfolded between Nvidia founder and CEO Huang Renxun and Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The conversation highlighted significant advancements in artificial intelligence and robotics, offering insights into the future of these technologies.
Huang Renxun revealed that Nvidia is set to begin shipping EBlackwell samples this week. This announcement marks the debut of Nvidia’s new chip architecture for the year. Alongside this, Nvidia introduced updates to its software, particularly the cloud-native microservices designed to optimize AI reasoning. The NvidiaInference Microservice (NIM) aims to facilitate large-scale AI model deployment in enterprises.
Zuckerberg responded with a major announcement from Meta: the launch of AI Studio. Built on Meta’s latest large model, Llama 3.1, AI Studio will enable users to create, share, and design personalized AI chatbots. Initially available to Instagram Business accounts, AI Studio will be accessible to all Meta users in the U.S. in the coming weeks. Zuckerberg emphasized Meta’s vision of empowering users to create their own AI agents, catering to both small businesses and individual creators. He also showcased Meta’s Segment Anything Model (SAM2), an open-source AI model capable of real-time object segmentation in images and videos. SAM2, available under the Apache 2.0 license, allows for annotation-free object tracking across video frames.
In a significant development for robotics, Huang Renxun announced that Nvidia will support the global robotics industry with a comprehensive suite of services, models, and software platforms. This includes NIM microservices, frameworks for robot simulation and learning, and NVIDIA OSMO orchestration services for managing multi-stage robot tasks. Huang expressed confidence in the future of humanoid robots, highlighting Nvidia’s efforts to advance the development of robotics through accessible platforms and AI models.
During their exchange, Huang inquired about Zuckerberg’s perspective on smart glasses. Zuckerberg reflected on his initial belief that holographic AR glasses would precede the AI era, noting their delay in mass production. Nevertheless, he remains optimistic about smart glasses evolving into a pivotal computing platform, with a range of products expected to hit various price points. He anticipates that a $300 model could become highly popular, potentially attracting millions of users.
Huang Renxun also revealed that Meta might be utilizing up to 600,000 Nvidia GPUs, underscoring the deep integration between the two companies. Recent developments, including Nvidia’s launch of the AI Foundry service and NIM microservice, align with Meta’s Llama 3.1 series of open-source AI models.
The interaction between these tech giants continues to capture public interest, with their personal rapport also making headlines. A memorable moment from last year’s SIGGRAPH was their exchange of coats after dinner, which sparked online buzz. At the end of this year’s dialogue, Zuckerberg gifted Huang a black fur-collared jacket, while Huang presented Zuckerberg with his signature leather jacket. “Your clothes are obviously more valuable because they have been worn,” Zuckerberg quipped with a smile.
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