The Tech That Drives Business Innovation: Lenovo and DreamWorks
Article content
DreamWorks Animation expands Preferred Technology Provider relationship with Lenovo — deepening a trusted partnership to include Lenovo's cutting-edge services and solutions.
Lenovo's end-to-end technology portfolio, including high-performance workstations, High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure, and digital transformation services, allows DreamWorks to push the boundaries of creative innovation without compromising speed, quality, or imagination.
Article content
Article content
MORRISVILLE, N.C. — DreamWorks Animation is deepening its collaboration with Lenovo, naming the company its preferred compute services, workstation, and solutions provider. This marks a milestone in a trusted partnership now strengthened by Lenovo's solutions and services. By bringing together devices, data center infrastructure, and services into a seamless Lenovo ecosystem, DreamWorks has the compute power to scale with the ever-growing demands of its artistic and technical teams — an essential advantage in an increasingly dynamic landscape. At the core of this collaboration is a shared commitment to service excellence, ensuring DreamWorks remains supported through every business transformation.
Article content
Lenovo's strategic services and solutions have already delivered a quantifiable impact to DreamWorks' production pipelines and business infrastructure:
Article content
• A 20% performance increase was achieved using Lenovo Neptune™ liquid cooling, improving render speeds and enabling faster iteration cycles.
• A 25% performance increase of animation programs running on the ThinkStation™ P620s compared to previous workstations, leading to faster loading times and an overall better artist experience.
• With 98% utilization in its data center and 300 million compute hours for The Wild Robot, Lenovo infrastructure scaled to meet unprecedented creative demands.
Article content
'Based on our long-standing relationship and Lenovo's consistent delivery excellence, expanding our collaboration was a natural next step,' said Kate Swanborg, SVP of Technology Communications and Strategic Alliances, DreamWorks Animation. 'This deepens our collaboration and gives DreamWorks the flexibility and operational scale we need to fuel our business ambitions and deliver world-class filmmaking.'
Article content
'This expanded relationship underscores the vital role of advanced, scalable technologies and services in powering complex creative workflows and meeting the demands of modern content production,' added Ken Wong, Executive Vice President and President, Solutions and Services Group, Lenovo. 'It highlights the strategic impact of a trusted technology partnership in delivering the performance, reliability, and innovation required to push the boundaries of what's possible in filmmaking and what's possible in business.'
Article content
From strategy to 24/7 operations, Lenovo delivers more than just high-performance hardware — it provides a services-first ecosystem that keeps DreamWorks' technology teams focused. Lenovo's scalable service model covers everything from day-to-day support to critical artist compute deployment, ensuring that enterprise environments like DreamWorks have the tools, agility, and responsiveness needed at every stage of production.
Article content
ThinkStation™ and ThinkPad™ P Series Workstations – designed to deliver the performance and responsiveness required in any setting, including modern film production, making them ideal for artists, technical directors, and other professionals.
ThinkSystem ™ Servers and HPC Infrastructure – powering compute-intensive rendering and animation pipelines.
NEW: TruScale ™ Infrastructure as a Service – enabling DreamWorks to scale compute resources on demand while avoiding large capital expenditures. The offering supports the full ThinkSystem™ and ThinkAgile™ portfolio and is tailored to align infrastructure capacity with production timelines.
Article content
Lenovo TruScale™ allows DreamWorks to retain the control and security of on-premises infrastructure while benefiting from 24/7 proactive monitoring, managed services, and expert support. As part of its services portfolio, Lenovo also supports DreamWorks' sustainability goals — helping retire outdated systems and transition to more energy-efficient technologies.
Article content
And Infrastructure is only part of the story. DreamWorks depends on Lenovo's Premier Support Plus for round-the-clock help, fast fixes, and minimal downtime. In a high-pressure creative environment, responsive support and expert planning are essential to reducing complexity and helping teams meet aggressive production goals.
Article content
DreamWorks' partnership with Lenovo is a story of creative ambition brought to life through cutting-edge technology. During its most technically demanding productions, DreamWorks relied on Lenovo's high-performance computing (HPC) solution—featuring Neptune™ liquid cooling—to accelerate workflows and scale rendering. Neptune™ liquid cooling boosted core performance within the pre-existing data center space, enhancing both energy efficiency and system stability, and enabled the studio to do more with less. Just as critical was the ability to iterate in real time. With Lenovo's infrastructure, artists could explore, refine, and bring complex digital environments to life with greater speed and precision.
Article content
Lenovo's professional services have also enabled DreamWorks to scale quickly and smoothly. A HPC deployment expected to take a week was completed in just 1.5 days. From custom hardware integration to white-glove service and proactive support, every deployment is built for seamless execution and immediate production-readiness.
Article content
This robust technology and services foundation now supports a bold new slate of DreamWorks films, including The Bad Guys 2 (August 2025) and the newly announced Forgotten Island (September 2026). It will also play a central role in the creation of Shrek 5 (December 2026)—further demonstrating Lenovo's impact on some of the studio's most iconic and technically ambitious productions.
Article content
Looking ahead, Lenovo supports DreamWorks in streamlining complex operational and infrastructure processes as well as predictive analytics and intelligent workflows –powered by Lenovo's AI-optimized infrastructure that includes workstations, data center systems, and TruScale services. While DreamWorks does not use AI in the generation of its imagery, the studio is researching its potential to increase production pipeline efficiency to further enable their artists to focus on their creativity. This integrated ecosystem would bridge individual creativity with end-to-end studio orchestration, helping DreamWorks move from concept to screen with greater speed, agility, and innovation.
Article content
'This extension of the Lenovo partnership is a key component of our technology strategy,' said Bill Ballew, CTO for DreamWorks Animation. 'The Lenovo hardware solutions are incredibly powerful, and we are now looking forward to engaging with their AI teams to identify solutions that will optimize our compute infrastructure even further.'
Article content
'As production strategy evolves, the Lenovo-DreamWorks partnership serves as a blueprint for how enterprises can leverage integrated technology to scale intelligently and meet the demands of creative and operational excellence,' Wong added.
Article content
Discover what's possible with Lenovo. Explore a full portfolio of workstations, data center solutions, and enterprise services designed to scale with creative and AI ambitions.
Article content
Unlock the Lenovo Hybrid AI Advantage to accelerate AI across edge, cloud, and on-prem environments. Rely on Lenovo for expert support, from strategy to 24/7 operations. And start smart with AI Discover — a guided consultation to identify use cases, assess readiness, and drive faster outcomes.
Article content
Lenovo is a US$69 billion revenue global technology powerhouse, ranked #248 in the Fortune Global 500, and serving millions of customers every day in 180 markets. Focused on a bold vision to deliver Smarter Technology for All, Lenovo has built on its success as the world's largest PC company with a full-stack portfolio of AI-enabled, AI-ready, and AI-optimized devices (PCs, workstations, smartphones, tablets), infrastructure (server, storage, edge, high performance computing and software defined infrastructure), software, solutions, and services. Lenovo's continued investment in world-changing innovation is building a more equitable, trustworthy, and smarter future for everyone, everywhere. Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange under Lenovo Group Limited (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY). To find out more visit https://www.lenovo.com, and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
'You did it again': Scottie Scheffler joins Tiger Woods as only repeat winners at Memorial
Social Sharing Scottie Scheffler never lost the lead and never gave anyone much of a chance down the stretch Sunday in another relentless performance, closing with a 2-under 70 for a four-shot victory to join Tiger Woods as the only repeat winners of the Memorial. Slowed by hand surgery at the start of the year from a freak accident, Scheffler appears to be in full stride with one major already in the bag and another around the corner at the U.S. Open. "It's always a hard week," said Scheffler, who finished at 10-under 278. "We battled really hard on the weekend. Overall it was a great week." On one of the tougher PGA Tour tests of the year, Scheffler made one bogey over the final 40 holes at Muirfield Village. "Well, you did it again," tournament host Jack Nicklaus told him walking off the green. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 1-over 73 on Sunday, capping a solid tournament showing with a fourth-place finish. Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., finished in a four-way tie for 12th at even par. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., finished in a six-way tie for 25th at 4 over, and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford finished in a four-way tie for 51st at 11 over. Ben Griffin tried to make it interesting at the end with a 12-foot eagle on the par-5 15th and a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th to close within two shots with two to play. Scheffler, however, doesn't make mistakes. Griffin made double bogey on the 17th. Griffin made a 4-foot par on the 18th for a 73 to finish alone in second, worth $2.2 million US, more than what he earned when he won at Colonial last week. Sepp Straka (70) finished another shot back. "You know Scottie's probably going to play a good round of golf. The guy's relentless. He loves competition, and he doesn't like giving up shots," Straka said. "But it's one of those courses where it can always happen, so you got to be prepared for it. I felt like I gave myself a lot of chances to kind of make a push." Nick Taylor's late-round eagle, birdie keep Canadian in contention at the Memorial Scheffler now has won three times in his last four starts — the exception was Colonial, a tie for fourth the week after winning the PGA Championship — and expanded his margin at No. 1 in the world to levels not seen since Woods in his peak years. Woods is a five-time winner at Memorial who won three straight from 1999 through 2001. No one had repeated at Muirfield Village since then until Scheffler. His performances lately look a lot more like Nicklaus the way he wears down the field by rarely getting out of position. Fowler earns timely top 10 finish Rickie Fowler had his first top 10 of the year at just the right time. He made par on the 18th to tie for seventh, earning him a spot in the British Open. Fowler tied with Brandt Snedeker at 1-under 287, but gets the one Open exemption available based on a higher world ranking — Fowler at No. 124, Snedeker at No. 430. "That's one I've wanted on the schedule," said Fowler, who faces a 36-hole qualifier for the U.S. Open on Monday. Both received sponsor exemptions to the Memorial, a signature event on the PGA Tour. For Scheffler, it was his fifth victory in a $20 million signature event in the last two years. This one looked inevitable, but only after a quick development early on the back nine. Scheffler ended 31 holes without a bogey at tough Muirfield Village on the 10th hole, dropping his lead to one shot. Griffin had 4 feet for birdie on the par-5 11th. Scheffler made his 15-foot birdie putt and Griffin missed. Griffin bogeyed the next two holes, and just like that, Scheffler was four shots ahead. That's how it was at the PGA Championship — tight one minute, a blowout the next, and the sweetest walk toward the 18th green with victory secure. This one ended in a handshake with Nicklaus, who had said earlier in the week of Scheffler, "He plays a lot like I did." Nicklaus said he was all about fairways and greens, having plenty of chances and making enough of them to post a score. That's the Scheffler way, too, even if it didn't always look that way at the start of the final round. With mud on the golf ball in the first fairway, too much spin on short irons on the next few holes, Scheffler didn't have a birdie putt until the fifth hole. He saved par seven times in the final round, including the final hole.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Is Nvidia a Buy?
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) just delivered another record-breaking quarter, sending its stock up 5% and tying Microsoft as the most valuable publicly traded company by market capitalization, at the time of this writing. Despite the strong results, questions linger as the company faces mounting geopolitical pressure and tariff uncertainty. Let's break down the chipmaker's latest performance and explore what the current challenges mean for long-term investors to determine whether Nvidia is a buy, hold, or sell. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » Here are the results from Nvidia's latest blowout quarter For the first quarter of fiscal 2026, Nvidia reported $44.1 billion in revenue, representing a 69% year-over-year increase and a 12% increase from its previous quarter, fiscal Q4 2025. Nvidia's net income totaled $18.8 billion, a 26% increase year over year, despite the company incurring a $4.5 billion charge related to new U.S. export restrictions. As for highlights, the company's data center revenue surged to $39.1 billion in the quarter, representing a 73% increase from the prior year. Management also announced that it will be building factories in the U.S. in partnership with others to produce artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers, which may alleviate some tariff concerns. Additionally, Nvidia continued to return capital to shareholders, with a modest quarterly dividend of $0.01 per share, and repurchased $14.1 billion worth of shares during the quarter. Notably, the management has spent $40 billion over the past 12 months on share buybacks, decreasing its share count by just 0.8% due to the company's massive $3.4 trillion market capitalization. Tariff twists and turns While Nvidia continues to break records, it encountered the aforementioned geopolitical hiccup during the quarter. On April 9, the U.S. government abruptly required Nvidia to secure a license before shipping H20 chips to China. The problem? H2O was already deeply embedded in the company's go-to-market strategy and had generated $4.6 billion in revenue during the quarter. Nvidia was left holding the bag on $4.5 billion worth of unsellable inventory and was unable to ship an additional $2.5 billion in orders before the restrictions took effect. The China market, once seen as a dependable pillar of growth, now represents a major wildcard for Nvidia. With U.S. firms locked out, Nvidia warned that losing access to this near-$50 billion AI accelerator market would materially benefit foreign competitors. Just after Nvidia released its fiscal Q1 earnings, another twist emerged: A federal court blocked President Donald Trump from using emergency powers to impose broad tariffs. While the decision, which the Trump administration intends to appeal, may ease trade tensions for now, it highlights how quickly trade policy can shift and put the brakes on Nvidia's unparalleled growth. Nvidia's Blackwell is its next growth driver Despite the company's geopolitical headaches, Nvidia continues to innovate. Its Blackwell chips -- designed for massive-scale AI workloads -- are the company's next big breakthrough, according to CEO Jensen Huang. To support its growth, the company launched Blackwell Ultra and Nvidia Dynamo during its latest quarter, designed to power the next generation of reasoning AI models. Huang said: Global demand for Nvidia's AI infrastructure is incredibly strong. AI inference token generation has surged tenfold in just one year, and as AI agents become mainstream, the demand for AI computing will accelerate. Countries around the world are recognizing AI as essential infrastructure -- just like electricity and the internet -- and Nvidia stands at the center of this profound transformation. To support the development of its Blackwell product, Nvidia announced in April that it will build and test these chips in Arizona and its AI supercomputers in Texas. Given the company's tariff concerns, it's an unlikely coincidence that management chose the U.S. as the location for manufacturing its newest product. Looking ahead, management projects $45 billion in revenue for its next quarter, plus or minus 2%. Notably, that outlook includes an $8 billion hit from ongoing H20 restrictions, which will continue to impact gross margins. When excluding the projected $8 billion loss, management believes it will achieve a range of "mid-70%" gross margins later in its fiscal 2026, which would be in line with its 75% gross margin for its previous fiscal year. Is Nvidia a buy, sell, or hold? Given Nvidia stock's meteoric rise, it still trades at a steep 45 times trailing earnings. Yet the company has largely grown into that premium, with a three-year median price-to-earnings ratio of around 63. As a clear leader in the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence, Nvidia continues to break new ground, most recently with its next-generation Blackwell chips and AI supercomputers. For growth-focused investors seeking exposure to transformative AI technology, Nvidia remains a compelling long-term investment, even amid geopolitical risks and an elevated valuation multiple. Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now? Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $651,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $828,224!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is979% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to171%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025
Globe and Mail
4 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Bear Market Myths Debunked: Separating Fact From Fiction
There may not be a scarier pair of words to see in a financial news headline than "bear market." A bear market, typically defined as a 20% decline from a broad market index's previous high, can be jarring, especially when the sell-off happens quickly. You only need to recall the news stories in April when President Donald Trump's global tariff announcements sent the market tumbling to understand the fear a bear market can bring. However, they're also a healthy and necessary part of the market's cycles, and understanding bear markets can help you navigate them wisely -- or even use them to your advantage. Here are four truths about bear markets that every investor should know. 1. They usually don't last long Imagine you're at the start of a roller-coaster ride with your car slowly being pulled higher and higher. Then, you cross the peak and plummet back down at breathtaking speed. That can often be what stock market cycles feel like as they alternate between bull and bear markets. Like that steady uphill climb, bull markets can last for a while. Between 1949 and 2024, the average bull market in the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) lasted 67 months, or just over five and a half years. In contrast, bear markets lasted an average of just 12 months, and the shortest lasted just 33 days. Bear markets may not be fun, but fortunately, they're usually over relatively quickly. 2. Bear market losses pale in comparison to bull market gains Since bull markets usually last much longer than bear markets, it pays to stay invested. Yes, the declines you'll see in the value of your portfolio during a downturn are discouraging. The average decline during an S&P 500 bear market was 34%, and the 2008 financial crisis was particularly severe with a 59% slump, according to Charles Schwab. But if you stayed the course, held your stocks, and rode it out until the next bull market, you would have enjoyed healthy gains. Since 1949, the average bull market has seen a 265% gain. Of course, there's no guarantee future results will follow historical patterns, but investors can still take lessons from the stock market's behavior over long periods. Investors should remain optimistic. 3. You don't want to miss a bear market recovery One way investors commonly shoot themselves in the foot is by trying to anticipate what the economy or the stock market might do in the short term. Most people fail to grasp how quickly things can change on Wall Street, and the market can pivot long before you realize what's happened. Historically, the U.S. stock market has tended to roar back following a bear market. For example, after the S&P 500 hit its bottom on March 23, 2020, during the COVID-19 sell-off, the index surged 55% within just five months. In fact, during the five worst bear markets since 1929, the market returned an average of 70.9% in the first year after reaching its bottom. The tricky part is that it's impossible to know when a bottom has arrived. Some of the strongest market rallies occur during bear markets but wind up being false signals. That's why the best way to ensure you don't miss the best stretches of the stock market's next big rally is to never move your money to the sidelines in the first place. 4. Bear markets aren't as common as you might think It has become a popular strategy to buy the dip -- add more money to the market after it declines. That works more often than not. Sure, if you buy in the early stages of an extended bear market, it's going to hurt a bit. Fortunately, bear markets aren't as common as you might believe: They occur about once every 3.5 years. The market fluctuates frequently, but it also rebounds. Declines of more than 10% but less than 20% are called corrections. Since 1974, the S&P 500 has bounced back from 80% of its corrections before they deepened into bear market territory. And on average, the S&P 500 gains over 8% in the first month following a correction, and over 24% after a year. So yes, long-term investors should embrace market declines, whether they're corrections or bear markets, as buying opportunities. History is on your side. Should you invest $1,000 in S&P 500 Index right now? Before you buy stock in S&P 500 Index, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and S&P 500 Index wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $651,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $828,224!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is979% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to171%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025
