"Jim Keller's Proposal: Using Ethernet to Connect Blackwell GPUs Could Have Saved Nvidia Billions"
Jim Keller suggests that Nvidia should have used Ethernet instead of proprietary NVLink for chip-to-chip connectivity in its Blackwell-based GB200 GPUs for AI and HPC, as it would have saved money and made software migration easier. Nvidia's use of proprietary interconnect technologies poses a challenge for porting software to different hardware platforms, benefiting Nvidia but not its competitors. While Ethernet is a competitor to Nvidia's InfiniBand, the industry is developing Ultra Ethernet, which may become a viable competitor for AI and HPC workloads. However, Nvidia's current designs continue to leverage proprietary interconnects, and any shift to open-standard technologies may be years away.