Nvidia discusses $2k-per-GPU annual fee for software(www.tomshardware.com)
35 pointsby gscott7 hours ago13 comments
  • vkaku5 hours ago
    Everyone is making better software than NVIDIA today with AI, to the extent they are un-nerfing hardware and making stuff run 2x faster. Why would anyone in their sane mind pay NVIDIA anything when they can vibe engineer a faster library?
    • pacman13374 hours ago
      because NVIDIA can force them
      • Bluestein2 hours ago
        ... they can force them and they will - I think it is telling that they are beginning to consider extracting software rents, which could indicate they are beginning to prepare for some lack of sustainability in hardware sales - though right now they cannot make them fast enough, 'em chips.-
        • vkakuan hour ago
          They've got no hardware moat and they somehow think people will pay more money for slow software?! Hmmm ....
  • jwilcoxsonan hour ago
    In the industrial automation world, you pay for the hardware (PLC), and then separately have to pay for the software to program it (made by the same company). Now if you want support for the software or hardware, that’s another cost.

    At every interaction point, someone has their hand out wanting payment.

  • TazeTSchnitzel7 hours ago
    What software is this? A value-add nobody uses, or a core CUDA component everyone is stuck with?
  • Kevin_Flynn7 hours ago
    At what point do market forces take over, and give Nvidia the collective middle finger ?

    Couldn't customer #1 just have AI reverse engineer, clean room recode, and open source publish it, because its software ?

    It's all in how your attorneys define "clean room" now isn't it ?

    • nubinetwork4 hours ago
      > At what point do market forces take over, and give Nvidia the collective middle finger ?

      I haven't bought an Nvidia gpu since the 980. /shrug

    • georgemcbay7 hours ago
      > Couldn't customer #1 just have AI reverse engineer, clean room recode, and open source publish it, because its software ?

      Probably.

      But... Nvidia is currently close enough to a monopoly in this space, and our antitrust enforcement is so weak/nearly-non-existent, that I suspect that anyone who either did this or used the software that resulted from it would be blacklisted by Nvidia and never get another Nvidia GPU.

      So (unfortunately) chances are very good anyone in a position to do this will just shut up and pay the rent.

      • j457 hours ago
        Folks over time do build their own, or alternative tools.

        In the model space the open source efforts have been not disappointing at all.

  • Danox5 hours ago
    Apple dropped them for a reason...
  • throwaway9192336 hours ago
    Surprised its not based on wattage
  • mrlonglong7 hours ago
    Time for a Linus Torvalds middle finger.
  • MisterMunchkin4 hours ago
    Lmao! Sorry AI companies, even if you somehow survive to profitability, daddy Nvidia will just decide you have to pay rent in perpetuity. 99% margin on chips isn’t enough.
  • 4 hours ago
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  • cyanydeez6 hours ago
    Someone put up a ishuggingfacedead.com death watch and just post articles like this until it's obvious.
    • threecheese3 hours ago
      One thing I've noticed is a lot more HF assets require personal information collection to download. Not sure if that's new corporate compliance or an attempt to manage bandwidth (or a marketing channel).
  • j457 hours ago
    First it was licensing per cpu, now gpu?
  • klasnor4 hours ago
    [flagged]
  • verdverm7 hours ago
    buy the hardware and pay rent, even better /s