Nvidia, the leader in AI computing, and Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, have announced an ambitious collaboration to build a new class of specialized data centers called “AI factories.”
According to an Oct. 18 TechCrunch report, these AI factories will provide the massive computing power needed to accelerate the development of key technologies like self-driving vehicles, industrial robots, and smart cities.
The power of AI factories
At the core of an AI factory is a highly optimized supercomputing infrastructure powered by vast numbers of Nvidia GPUs. This enables the factory to ingest vast amounts of data, process and refine it, and transform it into valuable AI models and actionable insights.
According to Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang, AI factories will develop the “AI brain” for autonomous vehicles. The cars will continuously collect data through their sensors as they drive and feed this back to the AI factory. Based on this data, the AI factory will improve the vehicles’ software, creating a positive feedback loop that allows the AI fleet to learn and improve quickly.
Huang explained that in the future, every industry will need an AI factory to remain competitive. The manufacturing expertise of Foxconn, combined with Nvidia’s leadership in AI computing, makes this partnership uniquely capable of delivering AI factories at scale.
Foxconn’s evolution to an AI company
For Foxconn, this collaboration represents a major step in their evolution from strictly a manufacturing services provider to a broader technology solutions company. At Hon Hai Tech Day in Taiwan where the partnership was announced, Foxconn chairman and CEO Young Liu outlined their goal to become a platform solutions company spanning smart EVs, smart cities, and smart manufacturing.
The AI factory initiative aligns closely with this vision. Foxconn brings their manufacturing scale and ability to produce solutions in high volume. Nvidia contributes their advanced AI computing platform and expertise in architecting AI infrastructure. Together, they can deliver complete vertical solutions optimized for clients’ needs.
Battle for AI supremacy in autonomous vehicles
A major focus of the AI factories will be developing technology for smart, autonomous electric vehicles. This pits the Nvidia-Foxconn alliance directly against Tesla and its Dojo supercomputer.
Tesla is building Dojo to train the neural networks used in its “full self-driving” advanced driver assistance system. Dojo will use Tesla-designed chips tailored for AI workloads. Nvidia’s Huang emphasized their AI factory’s use of Nvidia’s broadly proven GPUs and full AI software stack.
Under their earlier partnership, Foxconn will manufacture electric vehicles integrated with Nvidia Drive for autonomous capabilities. Nvidia Drive Hyperion 9 brings together Nvidia’s next-generation Drive Thor engine control units with an array of sensors.
With AI factories providing massive computing power to train Drive Thor-based systems, Nvidia and Foxconn are well-positioned to be a dominant force in autonomous driving technology.
The AI factory advantage
AI factories will provide companies with crucial advantages in applying AI to new domains:
- Scalable, production-grade infrastructure. Companies can quickly iterate on ideas without wasting time on infrastructure.
- Flexibility to acquire only the resources they need with on-demand access to expensive, high-end equipment. Pay for results instead of facing significant upfront costs.
- Effortless collaboration with others in the ecosystem by co-locating teams on-site at the AI factory. Enables open innovation.
- Access to highly experienced technical personnel from Nvidia and Foxconn who understand the nuances of optimizing AI workflows.
- Future-proof design capable of scaling efficiently and taking advantage of new hardware. It is built to leverage developments from Nvidia and ecosystem partners seamlessly.
- Shorter time-to-market by leveraging Foxconn’s manufacturing expertise to iterate new products integrated with the latest AI models rapidly.
By utilizing AI factories, big and small companies can accelerate innovation and concentrate their resources on where they contribute the most value. The economies of scale and operational excellence from Foxconn and Nvidia minimize the cost and headaches of building your own AI infrastructure.
The Future with AI Factories
The collaboration between Nvidia and Foxconn foreshadows a future where scalable AI infrastructure is accessible to more companies. Small, enterprising teams can gain access to the same tools only a few large tech companies possessed just a few years ago.
This proliferation of AI capabilities driven by AI factories has the potential to accelerate innovation across many industries rapidly. Autonomous vehicles, intelligent robots, predictive maintenance of industrial systems, and other futuristic applications are closer than ever to broad adoption.
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