US patriotism was on display on Tuesday as Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang took the stage at the chip maker's GTC event, moments before he announced a new partnership with Nokia.
Unlike most previous Nvidia GTC gatherings, usually held in the company's home state of California, this year's event is taking place in Washington.
Images of US inventors Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates filled a screen as a narrator spoke of the US as a birthplace of technological transformation.
A soundbite of Donald Trump discussing AI reverberated through the hall, in a nod to the US President with whom Mr Huang has tried to gain influence.
“It’s difficult not to be sentimental about America after watching that video,” he said as he took the stage.
Mr Huang soon turned to accelerated computing, where powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units (CPUs) help to make artificial intelligence possible.
“Accelerated computing, its moment has arrived,” he said, reflecting on Nvidia’s climb to the top of the technology and business worlds, driven mostly by AI developments.
Mr Huang then announced the company is linking up with Finnish telecoms giant Nokia to build an AI-native 5G communications device, an Arc Aerial RAN computer, which he described as a wireless communication system.
“Our fundamental communication network is based on foreign technologies and that has to stop,” he said. "We’ll be able to use AI technology to make radio communications more efficient and proficient."
He said Nvidia’s partnership with Nokia would hasten the AI era of 6G telecoms.
“We’ll be able to use AI technology to make wireless communications more efficient and proficient,” Mr Huang said.
He told those present that soon, with help from Nokia, Nvidia's Arc Aerial RAN would provide a cloud-computing standard for wireless communications.
“It will go where data centres cannot,” Mr Huang said.
As part of the Nokia deal, Nvidia will be investing $1 billion in the company.
Mr Huang also announced that Nvidia would team up with Oracle to build the US Department of Energy a new supercomputer designed to boost scientific research.
The company says the supercomputer will feature a “record-breaking” 100,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs.
Mr Huang also spoke about Mr Trump's appointments and their apparent push for new supercomputer developments.
“I have to give a shout out to Secretary of Energy Chris Wright,” he said, referring to the US Energy Secretary.
Mr Huang said Nvidia's Blackwell GPU sales generated $500 billion in revenue.
“We’ve shipped six million Blackwell GPUs and we still have a [financial] quarter to go,” he said.
Mr Huang said his company would be forming a partnership with cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, hoping to quicken the process of finding security problems.
Concerns are growing that AI is making it easier for cyber criminals, although the argument can be made that it will ultimately be of greater help to cyber security companies.
The Nvidia partnership is a major win for CrowdStrike, which angered millions for causing a technical glitch that shot down computers globally in July.
Building on Nvidia's announcements on autonomous vehicles in March, Mr Huang said the company developed Drive AGX Hyperion 10, “a reference compute and sensor architecture” for vehicles.
Nvidia said part of the technology led to a partnership with ride-hailing platform Uber, which hopes to have a global autonomous fleet consisting of 100,000 vehicles starting in 2027.
Nvidia’s GTC event in Washington ends on Thursday.
White House ballroom controversy
Mr Huang told a news conference he was “proud and delighted” that Nvidia, along with other tech companies, had donated to a new ballroom at the White House.
The entire White House East Wing was demolished to make way for the project, prompting a backlash.
“We want DC to be the best home-court advantage [for deals] in the world,” Mr Huang said.
How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
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PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
