NVIDIA pauses AI compute partnership program amid antitrust concerns
NVIDIA has hit pause on its AI Compute Partnership program, which started just last month.
The initiative let smaller AI cloud companies get financial help for pricey GPUs in exchange for sharing some of their revenue.
Some NVIDIA employees expressed concern that the program could draw antitrust scrutiny, but a NVIDIA spokeswoman said the business model itself isn't going away, just getting tweaked as demand soars.
Program had $36B commitments, partners uneasy
The program had made $36 billion of commitments under agreements that typically lasted six years, but strict rules (like needing NVIDIA's approval for end customers) made some partners uneasy.
There's also been talk inside and outside the company about whether NVIDIA was gaining too much control over its partners' businesses.
For now, the company might rethink or reshape the program.