Nvidia Rocks CES

A New AI PC, Just for Developers

Nvidia founder, CEO, and fashion icon Jensen Huang announced a new platform to power AI PCs for AI developers. The announcement was made among a slew of AI software announcements, and it’s no surprise, given the company’s long-anticipated move. The Grace (Arm) CPU coupled with a Blackwell GPU on the same package will challenge PC competitors Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm.

Project Digits: A Small Box with Big Power

Project Digits is a small box available from Nvidia and its "Top Partners" starting at $3000. Add a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, or buy from a partner, and you’ll have the fastest and most complete AI development workstation on the market. It delivers a full petaflop of FP4 performance and supports the full breadth of Nvidia AI software, from NEMO to Omniverse.

Each Project Digits features 128GB of unified, coherent memory and up to 4TB of NVMe storage. It runs on standard wall power. With this platform, developers can run AI models up to 200-billion-parameters. Additionally, using NVIDIA ConnectX networking, two Project Digits AI supercomputers can be linked to run up to 405-billion-parameter models. Look Ma, no server!

But an AI PC Runs Windows, Right?

Since most developers use Linux, Digits supports that OS. This means it isn’t a general-purpose PC, at least not yet. Jensen was specific that this platform is for AI developers, not AI users. The goal is to "Place an AI supercomputer on the desks of every data scientist, AI researcher, and student (that) empowers them to engage and shape the age of AI."

Where Might This Be Heading? An End User AI PC?

A superfast AI PC for developers is cool. A superfast AI PC for end users would be huge, challenging the field of PC CPU providers. What must happen to turn "Project" Digits into an AI PC powerhouse? Microsoft Windows and PC OEMs like HP, Dell, and Lenovo must support the new SuperChip. Testing and certifying the new Arm-based platform for Windows would be somewhat straightforward now that Qualcomm Snapdragon has brought Arm CPU cores into the Windows mainstream. But this work still takes time. It could be ready by GTC, at least to make an announcement. Doing so would open up an incremental multi-billion-dollar market to Nvidia.

Conclusion

Nvidia’s Project Digits is a game-changer for AI development, providing a fast and powerful platform for researchers and developers. While it’s currently only available for Linux, the potential for Windows support and expansion into the general-purpose PC market is exciting. As the company continues to innovate and push the boundaries of AI, it’s clear that Project Digits will play a significant role in shaping the future of AI development.

FAQs

• What is Project Digits?
  Project Digits is a small box available from Nvidia and its "Top Partners" starting at $3000, designed for AI development.
• What are the key features of Project Digits?
  Project Digits features 128GB of unified, coherent memory and up to 4TB of NVMe storage, delivering a full petaflop of FP4 performance and supporting the full breadth of Nvidia AI software.
• What is the goal of Project Digits?
  The goal is to "Place an AI supercomputer on the desks of every data scientist, AI researcher, and student (that) empowers them to engage and shape the age of AI."
• Will Project Digits support Windows?
  Currently, Project Digits supports Linux, but there is potential for support of Microsoft Windows in the future.