Tech5: Tata buys 60 percent stake in Pegatron iPhone plant, Nvidia's Blackwell said to have server heating, and more

Nvidia plans 2025 launch of Jetson Thor chip for humanoid robots

Nvidia is planning a mid-2025 release for its Jetson Thor computer that is specifically aimed at powering robots and humanoid robots, the Wall Street Journal and others reported on November 14.

Unlike smartphones, where a handful of companies dominate, robotics is a fragmented market that offers a large opportunity, the Journal reported, citing Deepu Talla, Nvidia’s vice president of robotics and edge computing, who spoke to reporters at the company’s AI conference in Tokyo last week.

Nvidia’s approach, unlike that of Tesla’s, for example, is to offer a platform for robots and not build one itself, according to Talla, the Journal reported.

In March, Nvidia announced Project GR00T, a general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robots, and the new computer, Jetson Thor, for humanoid robots based on the Nvidia Thor system-on-a-chip (SoC). It also announced upgrades to its Isaac robotics platform, including generative AI foundation models and tools for simulation and AI workflow infrastructure.

Nvidia’s Blackwell has a heating problem: Reports

Nvidia's next-generation AI accelerators, called Blackwell, which have already faced delays, are causing servers they go into to heat up, according to Reuters on November 17, citing a report from The Information. The report from The Information is behind a paywall.

As a result of the heating issue, some customers are worried they won’t meet data centre deadlines. Nvidia's Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs) are overheating when placed in server racks designed for up to 72 chips, according to the report.

Thus far, there have been multiple attempts to redesign the racks, according to Reuters, citing The Information. Nvidia is working with cloud service providers and the engineering changes are part of the normal process, according to a statement from the company to Reuters. Initially set to ship in Q2, Blackwell chips were delayed, impacting major customers like Meta, Google and Microsoft.

Unveiled in March, the Blackwell GPUs are said to be as much as 2.2x times faster compared with the previous generation, called Hopper, according to various news reports.

Meta fined euro 798 million for ‘abusing’ dominant position

Meta has been fined euro 798 million (about $850 million) by the European Commission for breaching competition laws by embedding Facebook Marketplace within its social network, the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said in a press release November 14.

The Commission said this gave Facebook an unfair advantage over rival classified ad services, hindering their ability to compete. Meta has rejected the findings and plans to appeal, arguing that the Commission presented no evidence of harm to competitors or consumers, BBC reported.

After the conclusion of an investigation that started in 2021, Meta was fined for “abusing its dominant positions in the markets for personal social network services and for online display advertising on social media platforms”, EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in the press release.

This marks Meta's first competition fine from the EU, although the company has faced other significant penalties, including over data privacy issues and a past merger violation, the BBC notes. The ruling comes amid broader regulatory scrutiny of big tech firms globally.

Webinar series looks at cross-border movement of advanced tech

SIA-India and the IndUS Tech Council are launching Perspectives on Regulatory Issues in Strategic Markets (PRISM) 2024, a webinar series to address regulatory challenges in defence, space and dual-use technologies, the two organisations said in a press release on November 17.

The inaugural session taking place on Monday, titled ‘US-India Export Controls Dialogue: Bridging Innovation’, will explore export control regulations, including ITAR, EAR and CFIUS, and highlight opportunities for US-India collaboration. The series, which aligns with growing strategic ties between the two nations, follows recent discussions between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The series will culminate at the India Space Congress 2025.