Nvidia discusses $2k-per-GPU annual fee for software

(tomshardware.com)

34 points | by gscott 6 hours ago ago

18 comments

  • vkaku 3 hours ago ago

    Everyone is making better software than NVIDIA today with AI, to the extent they are un-nerfing hardware and making stuff run 2x faster. Why would anyone in their sane mind pay NVIDIA anything when they can vibe engineer a faster library?

    • pacman1337 2 hours ago ago

      because NVIDIA can force them

      • Bluestein 35 minutes ago ago

        ... they can force them and they will - I think it is telling that they are beginning to consider extracting software rents, which could indicate they are beginning to prepare for some lack of sustainability in hardware sales - though right now they cannot make them fast enough, 'em chips.-

  • TazeTSchnitzel 5 hours ago ago

    What software is this? A value-add nobody uses, or a core CUDA component everyone is stuck with?

  • Kevin_Flynn 5 hours ago ago

    At what point do market forces take over, and give Nvidia the collective middle finger ?

    Couldn't customer #1 just have AI reverse engineer, clean room recode, and open source publish it, because its software ?

    It's all in how your attorneys define "clean room" now isn't it ?

    • nubinetwork 3 hours ago ago

      > At what point do market forces take over, and give Nvidia the collective middle finger ?

      I haven't bought an Nvidia gpu since the 980. /shrug

    • georgemcbay 5 hours ago ago

      > Couldn't customer #1 just have AI reverse engineer, clean room recode, and open source publish it, because its software ?

      Probably.

      But... Nvidia is currently close enough to a monopoly in this space, and our antitrust enforcement is so weak/nearly-non-existent, that I suspect that anyone who either did this or used the software that resulted from it would be blacklisted by Nvidia and never get another Nvidia GPU.

      So (unfortunately) chances are very good anyone in a position to do this will just shut up and pay the rent.

      • j45 5 hours ago ago

        Folks over time do build their own, or alternative tools.

        In the model space the open source efforts have been not disappointing at all.

  • MisterMunchkin 3 hours ago ago

    Lmao! Sorry AI companies, even if you somehow survive to profitability, daddy Nvidia will just decide you have to pay rent in perpetuity. 99% margin on chips isn’t enough.

  • Danox 4 hours ago ago

    Apple dropped them for a reason...

  • throwaway919233 4 hours ago ago

    Surprised its not based on wattage

  • mrlonglong 5 hours ago ago

    Time for a Linus Torvalds middle finger.

  • undefined 3 hours ago ago
    [deleted]
  • cyanydeez 4 hours ago ago

    Someone put up a ishuggingfacedead.com death watch and just post articles like this until it's obvious.

    • threecheese 2 hours ago ago

      One thing I've noticed is a lot more HF assets require personal information collection to download. Not sure if that's new corporate compliance or an attempt to manage bandwidth (or a marketing channel).

  • j45 5 hours ago ago

    First it was licensing per cpu, now gpu?

  • klasnor 2 hours ago ago

    [flagged]

  • verdverm 6 hours ago ago

    buy the hardware and pay rent, even better /s