Nvidia vice president says GPUs are the 'currency' of AI researchers
"These days, the currency in any AI researcher is how many GPUs they get access to, and that's no less true at Nvidia than at any other company," Cohen said in an interview on Nvidia Developer.
Cohen led the team responsible for developing Nvidia's Llama Nemotron family of models. Released in March of this year, they represent the company's entry into the world of " reasoning" AI systems.
The speed at which the models came together was remarkable, Cohen said, taking "no more than one to two months." He partially credits the efficiency of their development to other workers being willing to sacrifice their processing power.
"So, there were a lot of researchers who very selflessly agreed to give up their compute so that we could get these Llama Nemotron models trained as quickly as we did," he said.
Cohen also attributed the speed of development to Nvidia's company-wide culture of prioritizing major projects, regardless of current team goals.
"How do you have a team to do a thing you've never done before? Part of the corporate culture is — we call them a 'swarm' — where you identify, 'This is something that's important,'" he said. "And everyone, every manager who has people who might be able to contribute, thinks about, 'Is this new thing more important than the current thing everyone on my team is doing?'"
If the manager can spare anybody, they'll "contribute" their direct reports to the new priority.
"Llama Nemotron ended up being a very cross-discipline, cross-team effort," Cohen added. "We had people from across the whole company working together without any formal organizational structure."
Llama Nemotron required a series of sacrifices, Cohen said, both in terms of computing power and personnel — but people were able to set aside self-interests for the benefit of the whole.
"It was really great to see, great leadership," he said. "There were a lot of sacrifices that people made, a lot of very egoless decisions that brought it together, which is just awesome."
Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment by Business Insider immediately prior to publication.
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Local contractors were often more accustomed to working on newer homes with modern materials like plastic insulation, which wasn't what she envisioned for her own space. "I started to learn a lot of DIY stuff, like making tiles and waterproofing the shower. But it's fun. I really enjoy it and I like power tools a lot," Aguirre said, adding that she dived into online tutorials, read books, and got advice from her father. These days, between managing her business and working on the house, Aguirre also runs an online boutique selling vintage kimonos and accessories. On the side, she offers kimono photography sessions, too. Living the dream Aguirre is part of a growing wave of foreigners who are relocating to Japan. The number of foreign residents in Japan reached a record high of 3,768,977 at the end of 2024 — an increase of 10.5% from the previous year, per data from the country's Immigration Services Agency. Four Americans who spoke to BI in 2023 listed Japan's safety standards and relative affordability as reasons for their move. Others told BI they were drawn to the idea of renovating one of the country's 8 million abandoned homes. Though much of the experience has been rewarding, Aguirre says the hardest part of her move was staying focused on her goals. "It is super challenging to own that kind of big house that needs constant attention, while also starting a business from zero in a new country with a new language," she said. She hopes to improve her Japanese language skills, but hasn't found the time to take lessons. "For now, my language classes are me talking to my neighbors," Aguirre said. Most of her neighbours are between 50 and 90 years old and have been living in the area for decades. Many of them once attended the local elementary school, which has since been transformed into a maple park. That said, meeting new people hasn't been difficult. A fairly large group of foreigners — mostly from the US and the UK — are living in Uda, she said. "When you go grocery shopping and you see someone else who is a foreigner, you basically go and talk to them because it's so rare," Aguirre said. Over the years, she's been introduced to new people, sometimes even on the street. Aguirre lives in her house in Japan full-time, and her husband comes to visit her whenever he can. Regarding what is often a long-distance relationship, Aguirre said, "It's challenging, but I mean, he said yes eight years ago." Looking back on her journey, Aguirre says it feels like she's only begun to scratch the surface. "Three years is just a trial," she said. Sometimes, she added, you'll need to wait for the thrill of the move to die down before you know if it's really for you. That said, Aguire knows she made the right choice. She hopes to continue growing her real estate business, now a team of three, and eventually connect traditional Japanese homes with buyers seeking homes and spaces for their creative projects. "It still feels like a dream," Aguirre said. "I just added more layers to my dream." Do you have a story to share about building your dream home in Asia? Contact this reporter at agoh@ Read the original article on Business Insider Solve the daily Crossword
