Nvidia Delivers Vera Rubin, Warns Customers of AI Chip Price Hike

Nvidia has started delivering its first production units of the 'Vera Rubin' AI computing platform to Microsoft's data centers. The company also notified major customers, including Microsoft, Google, and Oracle, of a price increase for AI chip systems, with prices set to rise by more than 15% starting in early next year.

The Vera Rubin NVL72 is the flagship configuration, combining 36 'Vera' CPUs with 72 'Rubin' GPUs. This setup delivers up to 10x higher AI inference throughput per watt and reduces cost per token to roughly one-tenth compared to Nvidia's previous Blackwell platform.

The price hike is attributed to a memory semiconductor shortage driven by surging AI demand, which has put pressure on the DRAM market dominated by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron. As a result, Nvidia may consider reducing the memory capacity of its 'Rubin Ultra' platform due to HBM supply constraints.