Meta Platforms is planning to pay Nvidia billions of dollars this year for its cutting-edge AI technology. But the chipmaker isn’t the only winner in this massive transaction. In an Instagram video Thursday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the social media giant is on track to own 350,000 Nvidia H100s by the end of the year, as it advances its AI efforts. Including other AI-focused chips, Meta’s compute infrastructure will be equal to almost 600,000 H100 equivalents, Zuckerberg said. Meta has been a significant Nvidia customer for years, but Zuckerberg’s comments Thursday highlight the magnitude of demand for its pricey graphics cards, or graphics processing units (GPUs). The remarks also add to the bullish AI picture painted this week by chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company , which produces Nvidia’s processors. “This is just a very exciting time to be Nvidia, because they’ve got Taiwan Semi working around the clock to make as many chips as they need, Jim Cramer said Friday. Nvidia’s stock has been off to a blistering start this year, up more than 20%, including a 3% gain Friday. Nvidia is on pace to set another all-time high, at $589 per share. Shares of Meta added nearly 2% Friday, to roughly $383 each, putting the stock on pace for a new all-time high for the first time in more than two years. Its prior record close came on Sept. 7, 2021, at $382.18 per share. The tech research firm Omdia estimated Meta bought about 150,000 H100s in 2023, analysts at Wells Fargo said in a note to clients Thursday. Against that backdrop, Meta’s plans to end 2024 with more than double that estimate is encouraging for Nvidia, Wells Fargo argued. “We see this as continued positive validation that the AI infrastructure buildout remains in its early innings,” the analysts led by Aaron Rakers wrote. The H100 is Nvidia’s top-of-the-line AI chip. It was in short supply throughout 2023 amid a spending boom in generative AI technology sparked by the launched of…
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