AI Hardware & Chips
The silicon wars powering the AI revolution.
Industry Overview
AI hardware represents the physical infrastructure making modern AI possible. From NVIDIA's datacenter GPUs to custom ASICs from Google and startups like Cerebras, this category covers the silicon wars determining who controls the AI stack.
Key Players
- GPU Giants: NVIDIA (H100/H200, Blackwell), AMD (MI300X), Intel (Gaudi 3)
- Cloud Custom Silicon: Google (TPU v6), AWS (Trainium 2), Microsoft (Maia)
- Startups: Cerebras (wafer-scale CS-3), Groq (LPU, NVIDIA acquired for $20B), SambaNova
- Foundries: TSMC (2nm mass production), Samsung, Intel Foundry Services
Current Trends (2026)
- Custom ASIC Boom: 44.6% shipment growth projected vs 16.1% for GPUs
- Training vs Inference Split: Specialized inference chips (Groq, Cerebras) gaining ground
- Memory Bottleneck: HBM4 supply shortage threatening chip production
Why It Matters
AI is compute-constrained. The companies controlling chip production, supply chains, and architectures control the pace of AI advancement. NVIDIA's near-monopoly makes them one of the world's most valuable companies.