Nvidia's Jensen Huang Indicates Future Plans for Desktop CPUs

Nvidia has been rumored to enter the consumer CPU market in 2025, and recent developments suggest we may have seen an early glimpse of their upcoming processor.

During CES, Nvidia showcased Project Digits, a personal AI supercomputer priced at $3,000, running on a new GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip. Reuters reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hinted to investors and analysts about larger ambitions for the Arm-based CPU developed in collaboration with MediaTek.

Huang stated, "You know, obviously we have plans," when discussing the new 20-core desktop CPU, adding that he would reserve further details for later.

MediaTek, the co-developer of the CPU, also has its own plans and ambitions. Huang suggested that MediaTek might launch the CPU independently in the market. He mentioned, "Now they could provide that to us, and they could keep that for themselves and serve the market. And so it was a great win-win."

Though Project Digits is not aimed at the mass market due to its high price and specific design for AI developers using a custom Linux system, Nvidia's moves towards consumer CPUs have been anticipated since October 2023. At that time, Reuters reported that Nvidia, alongside AMD, was working on Arm-based chips to be released in 2025.

Currently, Qualcomm dominates the market for Arm-based CPUs designed for Windows PCs, thanks to the recent launch of the Snapdragon X Elite processors. These new chips have achieved performance and energy efficiency levels that were previously only seen in Apple’s MacBooks, putting significant pressure on Intel and AMD’s x86 systems.

The upcoming year, 2024, is viewed as pivotal for Windows on Arm, as it is expected to finally realize its potential. With increased competition from Nvidia and other players, 2025 might signal a significant shift in the ongoing rivalry between Arm and x86 architectures.

Nvidia, CPU, ProjectDigits