Nvidia forms CPU R&D division in Israel

Israeli publication Globes reports that Nvidia is expanding its R&D centers based in Israel with a new design and engineering group that will focus on developing next-gen CPUs. Seeing that the acquisition of ARM may not come to fruition, Nvidia is now determined to prove that it can still enter the CPU market without the technology supplied by the British company.

Team Green already announced that its first ARM-based CPU codenamed Grace will remain on track for an early 2023 release. These models are designed for the HPC market, and the CPUs designed by the Israeli branch may also be targeting the same market. We could also see laptop processor designs that can rival Apple’s M CPUs, but desktop chips are most likely out of the picture for now.

Nvidia CTO Michael Kaegan further explained the new strategy: "Israel, with its unique wealth of talent, is a key player in the global tech ecosystem, and we are excited to be creating a new CPU group here. We look forward to further growing our local R&D activities both in this area and in our extensive work supporting the local ecosystem through unique programs for startups and developers."

Interestingly enough, Intel has an R&D division in Israel as well, so Nvidia is clearly looking to tap into a similar talent pool. Nvidia’s newly formed CPU group will start working alongside other existing Israeli divisions that are developing high-speed networking, HPC, Data Processing Units and AI applications.

Globes notes that Nvidia is currently employing a personnel of 2,800 across seven Israeli facilities in Yokneam, Tel-Hai, Raanana, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Jerusalem, Kiryat Gat and Beer Sheva. The current personnel includes the recently acquired Mellanox company and Nvidia is planning to hire hundreds of additional hardware, software and architecture engineers in the coming years for the new CPU division.

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