Simon Segars (Arm CEO) – A Conversation with Arm’s Simon Segars and NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang (Jun 2021)
Chapters
00:00:08 Impact of Software-Defined Computing on Future Technology
Software Revolutionizing Development and Deployment: Jensen Huang highlights the shift from traditional software development to continuous updates and enhancements driven by machine learning and data.
Impact on Chip Design: The continuous nature of software requires a shift from fixed-function chips to software-defined systems, leading to the concept of a “software-defined world.”
Investment in Software: Both NVIDIA and Arm are investing heavily in software to keep up with the demand for continuous updates and enhancements.
Multiple End Markets Driving Growth: Simon Segars emphasizes the simultaneous growth across various end markets, such as 5G rollout, digitization, and electrification of transportation, creating immense demand for technology solutions.
Products as Services: Segars discusses the shift from traditional product sales to a service model, where products have a longer lifecycle and require ongoing updates and maintenance.
Fungibility of Compute: Patrick Moorhead highlights the importance of processing data at the right place, often where it is ingested, and the potential impact on society, particularly in areas like autonomous vehicles.
Microscopic Computing Devices and Orchestrated Software: Huang and Segars emphasize the role of microscopic computing devices at the edge and the orchestration of software over networks, enabling the management of millions of devices from a single pane of glass.
Software Running in Multiple Places: Segars explains how modern software applications run in multiple locations simultaneously, interacting with other software components in different infrastructures.
Containers and Auto-Scaling: Moorhead discusses the use of containers to manage and scale applications across different levels of computing infrastructure, providing endless opportunities for innovation.
00:06:50 ARM and NVIDIA: The Power of Collaboration
Overview: The potential deal between ARM and NVIDIA has significant implications for the semiconductor industry, particularly for ARM customers and the broader market.
ARM Customer Benefits: Simon Segars emphasizes the need for more computing power in various forms, driven by complex frameworks and limitless end applications. Segars highlights the shortage of resources to meet the growing demand, stating, “We’ve just got way more to do than we’ve got people to do it.” The combination with NVIDIA will provide ARM with more resources to create a richer IP portfolio and enable it across the semiconductor industry.
Complementary Contributions: Jensen Huang emphasizes the complementary nature of ARM and NVIDIA’s offerings. He describes ARM as a world-class CPU IP company and NVIDIA as a platform technology company focused on peripherals, accelerated computing, and software. The combination of these complementary approaches will bring new ideas and innovation to the market.
Increased Scale and IP: Huang highlights the increased scale and resources that the combined companies will have. This will result in more IP, better IP, and accelerated roadmaps, enabling ARM to reach the diverse range of computing applications.
Competition: Patrick Moorhead discusses the positive impact of the deal on competition in various markets, including the PC market and the data center compute market. Segars emphasizes the importance of creating reusable building blocks that save time and allow companies to focus on differentiation. The combination will create more tools and IP, enabling companies to innovate and create more competitive products.
Positive Reception: Huang notes the positive reception of the deal among industry stakeholders, who are excited about the potential for NVIDIA’s AI leadership to reach the far edges of ARM’s markets.
00:11:58 Future of Arm Technology in the Age of AI and IoT
Collaboration and Ecosystem Expansion: NVIDIA and Arm aim to bring NVIDIA’s technology into the Arm ecosystem, leveraging their combined strengths and expanding the reach of AI and computing solutions.
Questioning the Notion of Independence: Jensen Huang challenges the view that independence equates to strength and vibrancy in the ecosystem, particularly in the context of the evolving needs of edge AI and IoT.
Importance of Platform Stack and Software Capability: Huang emphasizes the value of a comprehensive platform stack, software capability, understanding, and reach in the ecosystem to drive innovation and growth in the edge computing space.
Seeking a Strong Arm for New Markets: Customers demand not just an open and independent Arm but a strong Arm that empowers them to enter and succeed in emerging markets.
Increasing System Complexity: Simon Segars highlights the increasing complexity of systems built by Arm licensees, moving beyond mobile-centric designs to more intricate interconnected components and software stacks.
Need for a Different Approach: The changing landscape requires a different approach to address these complexities and continue providing the technologies that licensees demand.
Addressing Competition Concerns: Segars acknowledges concerns about potential competition with NVIDIA and assures that collaboration is the primary goal, aiming to enhance the Arm ecosystem’s strength and capabilities.
00:14:41 NVIDIA and ARM's Vision for the Future of Computing
Jensen Huang expresses NVIDIA’s commitment to investing in the UK, specifically in Cambridge, the birthplace of computers and genomics. He highlights the intention to grow NVIDIA’s headquarters in Cambridge and utilize its expertise in AI research, robotics research, and computational biology. The recently announced supercomputer, Cambridge One, is mentioned as an example of this investment.
Export Controls: Simon Segars clarifies that export controls are determined by the location of product creation and the nationality of the developers, regardless of the owning company’s nationality. The deal’s closure will not impact existing export control regulations.
ARM’s Role in the Data Center: Jensen Huang emphasizes the evolving concept of data centers, encompassing various sizes and shapes from football fields to retail stores. He highlights the commonalities across these data centers, including security, cloud-nativeness, confidentiality, multi-tenancy, and AI capabilities. The diversity of software stacks on top of these data centers presents challenges and opportunities. Huang acknowledges the software and peripheral technology required for ARM to succeed in specific market segments. He mentions the collaboration between NVIDIA and Arm to build an ecosystem around the ARM CPU, enabling customers worldwide to create computers of their desired shapes and sizes.
Digital Sovereignty: Jensen Huang explains Arm’s popularity in the context of digital sovereignty, as it empowers countries to build their own computer industries. He emphasizes that building a vibrant computer industry requires more than just ARM but involves creating an ecosystem around the ARM CPU. Huang highlights examples of supercomputers being built using Arm in various countries, demonstrating the flexibility and openness of the Arm licensing model. He concludes by reiterating the desire for global collaboration while acknowledging the geographical distribution of intellectual property (IP) to satisfy specific countries’ requirements.
00:24:42 The Revolution in Computing: From Independence to Strength
A Shift in the Computer Industry: The computer industry has undergone dramatic changes over the last 10 to 20 years. The open architecture and open licensing model remain valuable, but the industry’s focus has expanded beyond just the CPU. Accelerated computing, AI, and various types of computers have become key players.
Managing the Modern Computer Environment: Managing, orchestrating, and developing software for today’s computers is significantly different compared to the past. The combination of world-class CPUs and the strength of a combined company offers benefits.
Collaboration Advantages: Partnership brings openness and strength, providing a vibrant and feature-rich solution. Scale and speed of technology are crucial factors in today’s landscape. Platform and software technology enable the creation of markets and platforms globally.
Driving Down Innovation Costs: The collaboration aims to reduce the cost of technology innovation. The platform’s ecosystem allows companies to build on top of existing technology, saving R&D costs. This enables companies to focus on differentiation and new developments rather than reinventing basic components.
00:26:43 NVIDIA and ARM: Expanding Innovation and Reach in Computing
Jensen Huang’s Perspective on the Acquisition: NVIDIA’s acquisition of Arm is motivated by the goal of expanding the reach of NVIDIA’s ecosystem into new and emerging markets such as mobile and embedded devices. NVIDIA believes that the combination with Arm will bring innovation to both NVIDIA’s and Arm’s markets. The acquisition will allow NVIDIA to complement Arm’s CPU cores with its peripherals, software stack, and system capabilities, enabling Arm to expand into new computing worlds and markets.
Simon Segars’ Perspective on the Acquisition: Arm has long held the ambition of being present in every chip, and the acquisition will allow it to address a broader range of markets, including those that would have been difficult to reach independently. Segars believes that the definition of “every” is constantly expanding, and the acquisition will position Arm to capitalize on the growing opportunities in various end markets.
NVIDIA’s Full-Stack Approach to Artificial Intelligence: Huang emphasizes the importance of a full-stack approach in artificial intelligence, encompassing software skills, AI algorithm capabilities, and semiconductor and processor design capabilities. NVIDIA’s strategy involves licensing its architecture to enable large industries while creating specialized solutions for select industries where it possesses expertise.
The Future of Computing and the Internet of Things: The combination of NVIDIA’s AI capabilities and Arm’s extensive reach will drive the development of intelligent devices, creating a smart and connected world. The computer industry, particularly in the context of AI software, is experiencing a paradigm shift, with smart devices becoming ubiquitous.
Abstract
NVIDIA’s Acquisition of ARM: A New Era in Computing and Innovation
NVIDIA’s acquisition of ARM stands as a pivotal moment in the computing industry, signaling a transformative shift towards a more integrated and innovative future. This strategic move, spearheaded by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and ARM CEO Simon Segars, promises to reshape the landscape of modern computing. It encompasses not only advancements in software development and deployment, including AI and machine learning, but also addresses the increasing complexity and demands of various computing segments. The merger is set to accelerate ARM’s roadmap, enhance IP portfolio richness, and expand NVIDIA’s technological reach, thereby fostering competition and innovation across multiple markets. This article delves into the key aspects and implications of this acquisition, highlighting its potential to redefine the future of computing.
1. Transformative Impact of Software Development:
The evolution of software development, as described by Jensen Huang of NVIDIA, is being significantly driven by advancements in machine learning and AI. This shift necessitates a move towards a software-defined world where systems are highly adaptable to changing requirements. The importance of this transition is further underscored by the convergence of multiple end markets, including the 5G rollout and the electrification of transportation. Huang has pointed out the shift from traditional software development to a model of continuous updates and enhancements informed by machine learning and data. This evolution leads to a paradigm shift from fixed-function chips to software-defined systems, underlining the concept of a “software-defined world.” Both NVIDIA and Arm are investing heavily in software to keep pace with the need for continuous updates and improvements.
Simon Segars has emphasized the simultaneous growth across various end markets, such as 5G rollout, digitization, and the electrification of transportation, which are creating a substantial demand for technological solutions. This growth has also led to a shift from traditional product sales to a service model, where products have a longer lifecycle and require ongoing updates and maintenance. Patrick Moorhead has underscored the importance of processing data at the right place, often where it is ingested, and the potential impact on society, particularly in areas like autonomous vehicles. The discussion extends to the role of microscopic computing devices at the edge and the orchestration of software over networks, enabling the management of millions of devices from a single pane of glass. Segars elaborates on how modern software applications run in multiple locations simultaneously, interacting with other software components in different infrastructures. Finally, Moorhead brings in the concept of containers and auto-scaling, which are used to manage and scale applications across different levels of computing infrastructure, offering endless opportunities for innovation.
2. Merger Benefits for ARM Customers:
The NVIDIA-ARM merger represents not just a business transaction but a strategic amalgamation that promises a broader range of IP offerings and a pooling of resources. This combination is expected to enrich ARM’s IP portfolio, allowing licensees to develop a diverse array of products, and to accelerate ARM’s roadmap across various computing segments. NVIDIA’s expertise in accelerated computing is set to significantly enhance ARM’s capabilities, leading to greater innovation. Simon Segars has highlighted the increasing need for more computing power in various forms, driven by complex frameworks and limitless end applications. He has also noted the shortage of resources to meet the growing demand, a gap that the merger with NVIDIA aims to fill by providing ARM with more resources to create a richer IP portfolio and enable it across the semiconductor industry.
Jensen Huang has emphasized the complementary nature of ARM and NVIDIA’s offerings. ARM is recognized as a world-class CPU IP company, while NVIDIA is a platform technology company focusing on peripherals, accelerated computing, and software. This combination of complementary approaches is expected to bring new ideas and innovation to the market. Huang also highlighted the increased scale and resources that the combined companies will have, resulting in more IP, better IP, and accelerated roadmaps, enabling ARM to reach a diverse range of computing applications.
3. Complementary Strengths of NVIDIA and ARM
:
The merger brings together ARM’s CPU IP prowess with NVIDIA’s platform technology expertise, creating a synergy that fosters new ideas and innovation. This partnership is expected to drive IP development, improve IP quality, and accelerate product roadmaps. NVIDIA and Arm aim to integrate NVIDIA’s technology into the Arm ecosystem, leveraging their combined strengths and expanding the reach of AI and computing solutions. Jensen Huang challenges the traditional view that independence equates to strength and vibrancy in the ecosystem, especially in the context of the evolving needs of edge AI and IoT. He emphasizes the value of a comprehensive platform stack, software capability, understanding, and reach in the ecosystem to drive innovation and growth in the edge computing space.
Customers are seeking not just an open and independent Arm but a strong Arm that empowers them to enter and succeed in emerging markets. Simon Segars highlights the increasing complexity of systems built by Arm licensees, moving beyond mobile-centric designs to more intricate interconnected components and software stacks. The changing landscape requires a different approach to address these complexities and continue providing the technologies that licensees demand. Additionally, Segars acknowledges concerns about potential competition with NVIDIA and assures that collaboration is the primary goal, aiming to enhance the Arm ecosystem’s strength and capabilities.
4. Impact on Competition and Market Dynamics:
Increased competition, particularly in the PC and data center computing sectors, is a direct benefit of the merger. It enables the creation of more building blocks for chip development, leading to a richer IP portfolio and more competitive products in the market. Patrick Moorhead discusses the positive impact of the deal on competition in various markets, including the PC market and the data center compute market. Segars emphasizes the importance of creating reusable building blocks that save time and allow companies to focus on differentiation. The combination of NVIDIA and ARM will create more tools and IP, enabling companies to innovate and create more competitive products.
5. Widespread Enthusiasm for the Merger:
There is a widespread expression of excitement about this transaction within the industry. NVIDIA’s leadership in AI and software technologies is seen as a significant addition to expanding ARM’s market reach, expected to drive innovation across the semiconductor industry. Huang notes the positive reception of the deal among industry stakeholders, who are excited about the potential for NVIDIA’s AI leadership to reach the far edges of ARM’s markets.
6. NVIDIA and ARM Partnership:
Jensen Huang envisions this partnership as a driving force for advancements in IoT and edge AI. The combined platform stack, software capabilities, and ecosystem reach aim to empower developers, addressing the increasing complexity of systems built by ARM licensees.
7. NVIDIA’s Commitment to the UK Post-Acquisition:
NVIDIA plans to continue investing in ARM’s development center in Cambridge, UK, recognizing its historical and strategic significance. This includes a $100 million investment in Cambridge One, the UK’s largest supercomputer.
8. Export Control and ARM’s Role in Data Centers:
The acquisition does not alter export control considerations, as ARM products are mostly developed outside the US. ARM’s focus on security and AI support positions it well in the data center market, complemented by NVIDIA’s technologies.
9. Addressing Digital Sovereignty Concerns:
ARM’s open CPU ISA and the merger’s open licensing model promote digital sovereignty, allowing countries to control their computing infrastructures and foster innovation.
NVIDIA’s acquisition of ARM is a landmark development in the computer industry, poised to enhance ARM’s data center market position and contribute to a more diverse and secure computing landscape. This merger aligns with the growing emphasis on digital sovereignty and the need for flexible computing solutions, marking a significant step towards an innovative and integrated future in computing. The strategic fusion of NVIDIA’s and ARM’s capabilities and resources promises to drive a transformative shift in software development, IP creation, and overall technological innovation. This acquisition is not just a reshaping of two major companies but a redefinition of the computing industry’s future, with far-reaching implications for competition, market dynamics, and technological advancement. The enthusiastic reception from industry stakeholders and the partnership’s focus on addressing current and future challenges in computing signal a new era of innovation and integration, making this merger a pivotal moment in the history of technology.
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