Latest news with #Volta
Al Bawaba
3 days ago
- Business
- Al Bawaba
Ninth Huawei ICT Competition Global Final Concludes with Middle East & Central Asia Teams Earning Top Honors
The 9th Huawei ICT Competition Global Final 2024-2025 concluded in Shenzhen with a glittering closing ceremony and awards presentation. Sixteen teams from nine Middle East and Central Asia (ME&CA) countries — Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon — competed across the Innovation Track and Practice Track, securing four first prizes, four second prizes, and eight third 16 teams advanced from a highly competitive regional selection process that attracted over 31,000 university students and faculty from more than 640 institutions across 19 countries in Middle East and Central Asia (ME&CA). The 62 students and faculty who formed the 16 qualifying teams demonstrated strong technical skills and innovation capabilities at the Global Final. The Comsats University Islamabad team from Pakistan won first prize in the Innovation Track. The Qatar University of Doha for Science and Technology team won second with their "BeMySense" project, a real-time cross-platform communication assistance system that uses AI, computer vision, and natural language processing to enable sign language and voice interaction. The third prize went to team Volta from Uzbekistan and NABEEH from Saudi Arabia."We sincerely thank Huawei for providing us with such a valuable learning and competition platform," said a member of the Qatar team. "Our experience in China was incredibly rewarding, especially the opportunity to interact with outstanding teams worldwide. Their ideas showcased how technology creates value for society."The all-female NABEEH team from Saudi Arabia also took home the "Women in Tech" award. Huawei also presented Green Development Awards to recognize teams addressing environmental challenges through technology the Practice Track, ME&CA teams dominated the Network category, with first prizes awarded to teams from Bahrain, Kazakhstan, and Jordan, while the Pakistan team emerged in third place. In the Computing Track, the teams from Kazakhstan and Pakistan took the second prize, while the Lebanese and Iraqi teams attained third place. Meanwhile, the team from Lebanon took second place in the global finals of the Cloud Track, with representatives from Pakistan, Iraq, and Kazakhstan claiming Engagement and Educational ForumsThe competition drew international attention, with diplomatic representatives in attendance to present awards to their national teams. The Counselor from the Embassy of Kazakhstan in China and officials from the Saudi Consulate General in Guangzhou presented awards to the winning teams from their respective countries.A roundtable forum moderated by Tavsultanova Tamara, Executive Manager of Huawei's ICT Talent Partner Development Department, brought together participants from government, industry, and academia to discuss "Embracing the Future: Educational Evolution Trends and Innovation." The panel included Dr. Omar Alzubi, Dean of Al Balqa Applied University in the 2025 Huawei Most Valuable Instructor Forum, held on May 21, gathered nearly 200 ICT Academy teachers and industry experts to share teaching practices and explore school-enterprise cooperation models. Mardin Anwer, Associate Professor at the College of Engineering, Salahaddin University, presented her teaching achievements following a global selection process. Eighteen instructors from 10 countries received Most Valuable Instructor Izdenova, AI-Sana Project Manager at the Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, delivered a keynote on how industry standardization can drive educational advancement and how the "AI-Sana" program accelerates AI startup development and education Mohamed Madkour, Vice President of ICT Strategy & Marketing, Huawei Middle East and Central Asia, said, "This competition demonstrates how students can harness emerging technologies to address society's most pressing challenges. Through mastering cloud computing, AI, and big data analytics, participants are not just learning technical skills but developing solutions that can transform industries from healthcare to education while keeping sustainability and digital inclusion at the forefront of innovation."During the event, Huawei hosted an AI Accelerating Education Transformation Summit and announced the AI Capability of the Huawei ICT Academy Intelligent Platform. Participants also visited Huawei's Ox Horn Campus and Exhibition Hall to learn about the company's research and ICT practices. Since its launch in 2015, the Huawei ICT Competition has engaged over 960,000 students and faculty members from more than 2,000 institutions across 100 countries and regions. The competition is included in China's national list of university competitions and serves as a key partner program of UNESCO's Global Skills Academy. The competition addresses the growing demand for skilled professionals in AI, big data, and cybersecurity through multiple tracks, industry-academia collaboration, and curriculum development initiatives.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Volta Finance Limited - Net Asset Value(s) as at 30 April 2025
Volta Finance Limited (VTA / VTAS)April 2025 monthly reportNOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION, OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES Guernsey, May 23rd, 2025 AXA IM has published the Volta Finance Limited (the 'Company' or 'Volta Finance' or 'Volta') monthly report for April 2025. The full report is attached to this release and will be available on Volta's website shortly ( Performance and Portfolio Activity Dear Investors, Volta Finance's net performance for the month of April was negative -2.4%, taking the Aug 2024-to-date performance to +7.1%. Both our investments in CLO Debt and CLO Equity have experienced volatility post-liberation day, reflected in the valuation of the underlying assets of the fund. April was dominated by highly volatile markets driven by a confluence of macroeconomic and geopolitical events. On April 2, 2025, President Trump announced aggressive tariff policies aimed at addressing trade imbalances and bolstering U.S. economic sovereignty. Key measures included a 10% baseline tariff on all countries, with higher reciprocal tariffs on countries with significant trade deficits. These tariffs prompted swift responses from trading partners, notably escalating tensions with China, leading the U.S. to further increase tariffs on Chinese products to 145%. These announcements triggered immediate market reactions, causing U.S. and European stock indices to experience sharp declines amid fears of disrupted supply chains and higher costs. Markets partially recovered by month's end as the Trump administration declared a 90-day tariffs pause on all countries that did not retaliate. From a macroeconomic perspective, sentiment was mixed. The April U.S. jobs report indicated resilience, with 177,000 jobs added—surpassing expectations—and the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.2%. However, GDP data painted a less optimistic picture, with a -0.3% annualized contraction in Q1 2025, sharply down from the previous quarter's 2.4% growth. Increased imports and reduced government spending drove this decline, prompting the IMF to revise recession risks upward from 25% to 40%, while the Federal Reserve lowered its 2025 GDP growth forecast to 1.7%. In Europe, the ECB cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.25% amid weakening growth prospects and tariff-related uncertainties, also revising the bloc's 2025 growth forecast down to 0.9% from 1.1%. Market-wise, the European High Yield index (Xover) closed around 40bps wider while Euro Loans lost 1pt at 97.80px (Morningstar European Leveraged Loan Index). US Loans were down as well (-85cts) at 96.30px. Primary CLO markets remained busy as many transactions had secured orders, while levels moved wider across the capital structure, notably with BBs north of +600bps and single-Bs above +900bps. In terms of performance, CLO BB tranches total returns reached -1.5%. This is to be put in perspective with US High Yield returning -1.07% in the same period and Euro High Yield -1%. In terms of defaults, Liability Management Exercises (aka 'LME') are now the norm in the US market. Default rate in the US is standing at c.4.3% (0.8% excluding LME) according to Morningstar LL Index while the default rate in Europe is kept at 0.3% at the end of March in terms of principal amount. This is resulting into some par erosion and some pressure on CCC headroom for amortizing CLO. In front of these uncertainties, we decided to increase our cash up to c.16% of NAV at the end of the month through active management in addition to strong CLO Equity distributions: we received €7.5m coming from called CLO Equities, sold European CLO single B and redeemed US CLO debt. At the opposite, we invested into our US and European CLO warehouses €1.9m to buy loans at a discount and €2.3m into CLO debt tranches. In addition, Volta Finance's cashflow generation remained stable at €28.5m equivalent of interests and coupons over the last six months, representing close to 22% of April's NAV on an annualized basis. Over the month, Volta's CLO Equity tranches returned -3.6%** while CLO Debt tranches returned -0.9% performance**. This performance is consistent – although better - with the total returns of the product as mentioned above, especially when considering that Volta Finance is exposed to both BB and single-B tranches. Through the month, the dollar volatility had again a meaningful impact on the overall funds' performance (-0.64%). In the second half of the month, considering the potential change into the long-term investor view on the dollar, we decided to lower our exposure to USD to avoid further weakening and decreased our exposure to c.12%. As of end of April 2025, Volta's NAV was €262.9m, i.e. €7.19 per share. *It should be noted that approximately 4.24% of Volta's GAV comprises investments for which the relevant NAVs as at the month-end date are normally available only after Volta's NAV has already been published. Volta's policy is to publish its NAV on as timely a basis as possible to provide shareholders with Volta's appropriately up-to-date NAV information. Consequently, such investments are valued using the most recently available NAV for each fund or quoted price for such subordinated notes. The most recently available fund NAV or quoted price was 4.24% as at 31 March 2025. ** 'performances' of asset classes are calculated as the Dietz-performance of the assets in each bucket, taking into account the Mark-to-Market of the assets at period ends, payments received from the assets over the period, and ignoring changes in cross-currency rates. Nevertheless, some residual currency effects could impact the aggregate value of the portfolio when aggregating each bucket. CONTACTS For the Investment ManagerAXA Investment Managers ParisFrançois (0) 1 44 45 80 22 Olivier (0) 1 44 45 87 30 Company Secretary and AdministratorBNP Paribas S.A, Guernsey +44 (0) 1481 750 853 Corporate BrokerCavendish Securities plcAndrew WorneDaniel Balabanoff+44 (0) 20 7397 8900 ***** ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (as amended) and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities. Volta's home member state for the purposes of the EU Transparency Directive is the Netherlands. As such, Volta is subject to regulation and supervision by the AFM, being the regulator for financial markets in the Netherlands. Volta's Investment objectives are to preserve its capital across the credit cycle and to provide a stable stream of income to its Shareholders through dividends that it expects to distribute on a quarterly basis. The Company currently seeks to achieve its investment objectives by pursuing exposure predominantly to CLO's and similar asset classes. A more diversified investment strategy across structured finance assets may be pursued opportunistically. The Company has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris an investment management company with a division specialised in structured credit, for the investment management of all its assets. ***** ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERSAXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with 2,800 professionals and €859 billion in assets under management as of the end of June 2024. ***** This press release is published by AXA Investment Managers Paris ('AXA IM'), in its capacity as alternative investment fund manager (within the meaning of Directive 2011/61/EU, the 'AIFM Directive') of Volta Finance Limited (the "Volta Finance") whose portfolio is managed by AXA IM. This press release is for information only and does not constitute an invitation or inducement to acquire shares in Volta Finance. Its circulation may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions and no recipient may circulate copies of this document in breach of such limitations or restrictions. This document is not an offer for sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States or to persons who are 'U.S. persons' for purposes of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 'Securities Act'), or otherwise in circumstances where such offer would be restricted by applicable law. Such securities may not be sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration from the Securities Act. Volta Finance does not intend to register any portion of the offer of such securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of such securities in the United States. ***** This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the 'Order') or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as 'relevant persons'). The securities referred to herein are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. *****This press release contains statements that are, or may deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "anticipated", "expects", "intends", "is/are expected", "may", "will" or "should". They include the statements regarding the level of the dividend, the current market context and its impact on the long-term return of Volta Finance's investments. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Volta Finance's actual results, portfolio composition and performance may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. AXA IM does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements. Any target information is based on certain assumptions as to future events which may not prove to be realised. Due to the uncertainty surrounding these future events, the targets are not intended to be and should not be regarded as profits or earnings or any other type of forecasts. There can be no assurance that any of these targets will be achieved. In addition, no assurance can be given that the investment objective will be achieved. The figures provided that relate to past months or years and past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance or construed as a reliable indicator as to future performance. Throughout this review, the citation of specific trades or strategies is intended to illustrate some of the investment methodologies and philosophies of Volta Finance, as implemented by AXA IM. The historical success or AXA IM's belief in the future success, of any of these trades or strategies is not indicative of, and has no bearing on, future results. The valuation of financial assets can vary significantly from the prices that the AXA IM could obtain if it sought to liquidate the positions on behalf of the Volta Finance due to market conditions and general economic environment. Such valuations do not constitute a fairness or similar opinion and should not be regarded as such. Editor: AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS PARIS, a company incorporated under the laws of France, having its registered office located at Tour Majunga, 6, Place de la Pyramide - 92800 Puteaux. AXA IMP is authorized by the under registration number GP92008 as an alternative investment fund manager within the meaning of the AIFM Directive. ***** Attachment Volta - Monthly report- April 2025Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Volta Finance Limited - Net Asset Value(s) as at 30 April 2025
Volta Finance Limited (VTA / VTAS)April 2025 monthly reportNOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION, OR PUBLICATION, IN WHOLE OR PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES Guernsey, May 23rd, 2025 AXA IM has published the Volta Finance Limited (the 'Company' or 'Volta Finance' or 'Volta') monthly report for April 2025. The full report is attached to this release and will be available on Volta's website shortly ( Performance and Portfolio Activity Dear Investors, Volta Finance's net performance for the month of April was negative -2.4%, taking the Aug 2024-to-date performance to +7.1%. Both our investments in CLO Debt and CLO Equity have experienced volatility post-liberation day, reflected in the valuation of the underlying assets of the fund. April was dominated by highly volatile markets driven by a confluence of macroeconomic and geopolitical events. On April 2, 2025, President Trump announced aggressive tariff policies aimed at addressing trade imbalances and bolstering U.S. economic sovereignty. Key measures included a 10% baseline tariff on all countries, with higher reciprocal tariffs on countries with significant trade deficits. These tariffs prompted swift responses from trading partners, notably escalating tensions with China, leading the U.S. to further increase tariffs on Chinese products to 145%. These announcements triggered immediate market reactions, causing U.S. and European stock indices to experience sharp declines amid fears of disrupted supply chains and higher costs. Markets partially recovered by month's end as the Trump administration declared a 90-day tariffs pause on all countries that did not retaliate. From a macroeconomic perspective, sentiment was mixed. The April U.S. jobs report indicated resilience, with 177,000 jobs added—surpassing expectations—and the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.2%. However, GDP data painted a less optimistic picture, with a -0.3% annualized contraction in Q1 2025, sharply down from the previous quarter's 2.4% growth. Increased imports and reduced government spending drove this decline, prompting the IMF to revise recession risks upward from 25% to 40%, while the Federal Reserve lowered its 2025 GDP growth forecast to 1.7%. In Europe, the ECB cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.25% amid weakening growth prospects and tariff-related uncertainties, also revising the bloc's 2025 growth forecast down to 0.9% from 1.1%. Market-wise, the European High Yield index (Xover) closed around 40bps wider while Euro Loans lost 1pt at 97.80px (Morningstar European Leveraged Loan Index). US Loans were down as well (-85cts) at 96.30px. Primary CLO markets remained busy as many transactions had secured orders, while levels moved wider across the capital structure, notably with BBs north of +600bps and single-Bs above +900bps. In terms of performance, CLO BB tranches total returns reached -1.5%. This is to be put in perspective with US High Yield returning -1.07% in the same period and Euro High Yield -1%. In terms of defaults, Liability Management Exercises (aka 'LME') are now the norm in the US market. Default rate in the US is standing at c.4.3% (0.8% excluding LME) according to Morningstar LL Index while the default rate in Europe is kept at 0.3% at the end of March in terms of principal amount. This is resulting into some par erosion and some pressure on CCC headroom for amortizing CLO. In front of these uncertainties, we decided to increase our cash up to c.16% of NAV at the end of the month through active management in addition to strong CLO Equity distributions: we received €7.5m coming from called CLO Equities, sold European CLO single B and redeemed US CLO debt. At the opposite, we invested into our US and European CLO warehouses €1.9m to buy loans at a discount and €2.3m into CLO debt tranches. In addition, Volta Finance's cashflow generation remained stable at €28.5m equivalent of interests and coupons over the last six months, representing close to 22% of April's NAV on an annualized basis. Over the month, Volta's CLO Equity tranches returned -3.6%** while CLO Debt tranches returned -0.9% performance**. This performance is consistent – although better - with the total returns of the product as mentioned above, especially when considering that Volta Finance is exposed to both BB and single-B tranches. Through the month, the dollar volatility had again a meaningful impact on the overall funds' performance (-0.64%). In the second half of the month, considering the potential change into the long-term investor view on the dollar, we decided to lower our exposure to USD to avoid further weakening and decreased our exposure to c.12%. As of end of April 2025, Volta's NAV was €262.9m, i.e. €7.19 per share. *It should be noted that approximately 4.24% of Volta's GAV comprises investments for which the relevant NAVs as at the month-end date are normally available only after Volta's NAV has already been published. Volta's policy is to publish its NAV on as timely a basis as possible to provide shareholders with Volta's appropriately up-to-date NAV information. Consequently, such investments are valued using the most recently available NAV for each fund or quoted price for such subordinated notes. The most recently available fund NAV or quoted price was 4.24% as at 31 March 2025. ** 'performances' of asset classes are calculated as the Dietz-performance of the assets in each bucket, taking into account the Mark-to-Market of the assets at period ends, payments received from the assets over the period, and ignoring changes in cross-currency rates. Nevertheless, some residual currency effects could impact the aggregate value of the portfolio when aggregating each bucket. CONTACTS For the Investment ManagerAXA Investment Managers ParisFrançois (0) 1 44 45 80 22 Olivier (0) 1 44 45 87 30 Company Secretary and AdministratorBNP Paribas S.A, Guernsey +44 (0) 1481 750 853 Corporate BrokerCavendish Securities plcAndrew WorneDaniel Balabanoff+44 (0) 20 7397 8900 ***** ABOUT VOLTA FINANCE LIMITED Volta Finance Limited is incorporated in Guernsey under The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (as amended) and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities. Volta's home member state for the purposes of the EU Transparency Directive is the Netherlands. As such, Volta is subject to regulation and supervision by the AFM, being the regulator for financial markets in the Netherlands. Volta's Investment objectives are to preserve its capital across the credit cycle and to provide a stable stream of income to its Shareholders through dividends that it expects to distribute on a quarterly basis. The Company currently seeks to achieve its investment objectives by pursuing exposure predominantly to CLO's and similar asset classes. A more diversified investment strategy across structured finance assets may be pursued opportunistically. The Company has appointed AXA Investment Managers Paris an investment management company with a division specialised in structured credit, for the investment management of all its assets. ***** ABOUT AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERSAXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with 2,800 professionals and €859 billion in assets under management as of the end of June 2024. ***** This press release is published by AXA Investment Managers Paris ('AXA IM'), in its capacity as alternative investment fund manager (within the meaning of Directive 2011/61/EU, the 'AIFM Directive') of Volta Finance Limited (the "Volta Finance") whose portfolio is managed by AXA IM. This press release is for information only and does not constitute an invitation or inducement to acquire shares in Volta Finance. Its circulation may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions and no recipient may circulate copies of this document in breach of such limitations or restrictions. This document is not an offer for sale of the securities referred to herein in the United States or to persons who are 'U.S. persons' for purposes of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 'Securities Act'), or otherwise in circumstances where such offer would be restricted by applicable law. Such securities may not be sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration from the Securities Act. Volta Finance does not intend to register any portion of the offer of such securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of such securities in the United States. ***** This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the 'Order') or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as 'relevant persons'). The securities referred to herein are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. *****This press release contains statements that are, or may deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "anticipated", "expects", "intends", "is/are expected", "may", "will" or "should". They include the statements regarding the level of the dividend, the current market context and its impact on the long-term return of Volta Finance's investments. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Volta Finance's actual results, portfolio composition and performance may differ materially from the impression created by the forward-looking statements. AXA IM does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements. Any target information is based on certain assumptions as to future events which may not prove to be realised. Due to the uncertainty surrounding these future events, the targets are not intended to be and should not be regarded as profits or earnings or any other type of forecasts. There can be no assurance that any of these targets will be achieved. In addition, no assurance can be given that the investment objective will be achieved. The figures provided that relate to past months or years and past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance or construed as a reliable indicator as to future performance. Throughout this review, the citation of specific trades or strategies is intended to illustrate some of the investment methodologies and philosophies of Volta Finance, as implemented by AXA IM. The historical success or AXA IM's belief in the future success, of any of these trades or strategies is not indicative of, and has no bearing on, future results. The valuation of financial assets can vary significantly from the prices that the AXA IM could obtain if it sought to liquidate the positions on behalf of the Volta Finance due to market conditions and general economic environment. Such valuations do not constitute a fairness or similar opinion and should not be regarded as such. Editor: AXA INVESTMENT MANAGERS PARIS, a company incorporated under the laws of France, having its registered office located at Tour Majunga, 6, Place de la Pyramide - 92800 Puteaux. AXA IMP is authorized by the under registration number GP92008 as an alternative investment fund manager within the meaning of the AIFM Directive. ***** Attachment Volta - Monthly report- April 2025Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Insider
17-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
A guide to the Nvidia products driving the AI boom and beyond — from data center GPUs to automotive and consumer tech
Nvidia products are at the heart of the boom in artificial intelligence. Despite starting in gaming and designing semiconductors that touch many diverse industries, the products Nvidia designs to go inside high-powered data centers are the most important to the company today, and to the future of AI. Graphics processing units, designed to be clustered together in dozens of racks inside massive temperature-controlled warehouses, made Nvidia a household name. They also got Nvidia into the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and put it in the position to control the flow of a crucial but finite resource: artificial intelligence. Nvidia's first generation of chips for the data center launched in 2017. That first generation was called Volta. Along with the Volta chips, Nvidia designed DGX (which stands for Deep GPU Xceleration) systems — the full stack of technologies and equipment necessary to bring GPUs online in a data center and make them work to the best of their ability. DGX was the first of its kind. As AI has become more mainstream, other companies such as Dell and and Supermicro have put forth designs for running GPUs at scale in a data center too. Ampere, Hopper, Blackwell, and Beyond The next GPU generation designed for the data center, Ampere, which launched in 2020, can still be found in data centers today. Though Ampere generation GPUs are slowly fading into the background in favor of more powerful models, this generation did support the first iteration of Nvidia's Omniverse, a simulation platform that the company purports as key to a future where robots work alongside humans doing physical tasks. The Hopper generation of GPUs is the one that has enabled much of the latest innovation in large language models and broader AI. Nvidia's Hopper generation of chips, which include the H100 and the H200, debuted in 2022 and remain in high demand. The H200 model in particular has added capacity that has proven increasingly important as AI models grow in size, complexity, and capability. The most powerful chip architecture Nvidia has launched to date is Blackwell. Jensen Huang announced the step change in accelerated computing in 2024 at GTC, Nvidia's developers conference, and though the rollout has been rocky, racks of Blackwells are now available from cloud providers. Inside the data center, Nvidia does have competitors, even though it has the vast majority of the market for AI computing. Those competitors include AMD, Intel, Huawei, custom AI chips, and a cavalcade of startups. The company has already teased that the next generation will be called "Blackwell Ultra," followed by "Rubin" in 2026. Nvidia also plans to launch a new CPU, or traditional computer chip alongside Rubin, which it hasn't done since 2022. CPUs work alongside GPUs to triage tasks and direct the firepower that is parallel computing. Nvidia is a software company, too None of this high-powered computing is possible without software and Nvidia recognized this need sooner than any other company. Development for Nvidia's tentpole software stack, CUDA or Compute Unified Device Architecture, began as early as 2006. CUDA is software that allows developers to use widely known coding languages to program GPUs, since these chips require layers of code to work relatively few developers have the needed skills to program the chips directly. Still "CUDA developer" is a skillset and there are millions who claim this ability, according to Nvidia. When GPUs started going into data centers, CUDA was ready and that's why it's often touted as the basis for Nvidia's competitive moat. Within CUDA are dozens of libraries that help developers use GPUs in specific fields such as medical imaging, data science, or weather analytics. Nvidia began at home Just two years after Nvidia's founding, the company released its first graphics card in 1995. For more than a decade, the chips mostly resided in homes and offices — used by gamers and graphics professionals. The current generation includes the GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080, which was released in May 2025. RTX 4090, 4080, 4070, and 4060, were released in 2022 and 2023. GPUs in gaming enabled the more sophisticated shadows, texture, and light to make games hyperrealistic. In addition to the consumer work stations, Nvidia partners with device-makers like Apple and ASUS to produce laptops and personal computers. Though gaming is now a minority of the company's revenue, the business continues to grow. Nvidia has also made new efforts to enable high powered computing at home for the machine-learning obsessed. It launched Project DIGITS, which is a personal-sized supercomputer capable of working with some of the largest large language models. Nvidia in the car Nvidia is angling to be a primary player in a future where self-driving cars are the norm, but the company has also been in the automotive semiconductor game for many years. It launched Nvidia DRIVE, a platform for autonomous vehicle development, in 2015, and over time it developed or acquired technologies for mapping, driver assist, and driver monitoring. The company designs various chips for all of functions in partnerships with Mediatek and Foxconn. Nvidia's automotive customers include Toyota, Uber, and Hyundai.
Associated Press
29-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Singapore Advances Patented Signal Embedded Power Solution to Close the 200-Year Divide Between Electricity and Telecoms
Signal Embedded Power Line (SEPL) embeds real-time control signals within existing power lines 'I am grateful to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong for the opportunity to serve. It is heartening to see the PAP leadership demonstrating openness to new ideas that can strengthen Singapore's future.'— Kannappan Chettiar SINGAPORE, April 29, 2025 / / -- Since the early 19th century, electricity and communication have evolved along separate technological paths. While the telegraph introduced the transmission of binary information through wires, energy systems like Volta's battery and Edison's electric grid focused solely on delivering power. These domains remained isolated — power systems could not communicate, and communication systems could not energize. Today, this historical separation is finally being overcome. A groundbreaking innovation called the Signal Embedded Power Line (SEPL) has been formally presented to Singapore's Energy Market Authority (EMA) and national leadership, offering a transformational pathway for energy conservation and infrastructure intelligence. SEPL enables power delivery and real-time communication to coexist silently over the same conductor — without software, cloud systems, IoT devices, or vulnerable network architectures. Developed by Singapore inventor Kannappan Chettiar through globally patented Para-Series Field Embedding technology, the Signal Embedded Power Line (SEPL) resolves the century-old divide that kept energy and communication systems isolated due to electrical noise interference. Kannappan, Founder of Switching Battery® Inc., also pioneered the Switching Battery® Dynamic Para-Series Connections — innovations now recognized with patents granted across the United States, Europe, India, China, and other leading jurisdictions. SEPL represents a world-first breakthrough: A system that allows power delivery and real-time communication to coexist silently over the same conductor — without software, cloud systems, IoT devices, or cybersecurity vulnerabilities. 🌊 How SEPL Works: The Para-Series Magic SEPL operates on a breakthrough para-series architecture: • In Parallel Mode (minimum ~4V): Analog signals are embedded deep within the flow, silently and without disruption. This simultaneously enables real-time control, cell balancing, and communication pulses. • In Series Mode (e.g., 12V or 20V for LED streetlights): Power is delivered efficiently to loads like lighting systems and appliances. • Micro-Switching Magic: The system intermittently shifts — for just milliseconds — between series and parallel states, embedding signals during normal power delivery without visible interruption. This allows embedded intelligence without needing internet, cloud commands, or additional wiring. 🔥 Why It Matters: • Energy Conservation and Dynamic Control: SEPL allows streetlights to be turned on/off, dimmed, or adapted to weather conditions. Future possibilities include 'dancing streetlights' for pedestrian guidance, or emergency warnings without new infrastructure. • True Infrastructure Integration: Unlike Internet-based IoT controls, which require costly, unreliable, and complex networks, SEPL rides silently inside existing power lines — no internet towers, no firmware updates, no maintenance burden. • Historic Electrical Barrier Broken: Traditionally, power lines and telecommunications could not be merged due to electrical noise disrupting signal quality. SEPL overcomes this century-old limitation using the ocean metaphor: • At the surface, waves and tsunamis create noise — but deep below, the ocean remains still and calm. SEPL hides its signals deep within the energy flow, where noise cannot interfere. This miracle-like breakthrough transforms how cities, grids, and even remote villages can communicate with their energy systems — cheaply, reliably, and beautifully. 🌍 Singapore: The First to Lead? The potential impact for Singapore alone is extraordinary: • Annual savings exceeding S$1.6 billion through immediate energy conservation. • Deployment cost estimated at S$84 million, achieving payback within three months. • Retrofittable to existing infrastructure, offering rapid national deployment without disruption. Following an official request for technical specifications by EMA, a formal briefing offer has been extended. Public documentation of the proposal and technical overview has been made available to ensure transparency and public trust. In response to the government's request for technical specifications, Kannappan said, 'I am grateful to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong for the opportunity to serve. It is heartening to see the PAP leadership demonstrating openness to new ideas that can strengthen Singapore's future.' About Kannappan Chettiar Kannappan Chettiar is the Founder of Switching Battery® Inc., inventor of multiple energy system patents, and author of Switching Battery Dynamic Para-Series Connections. His life's work bridges technology, natural law, and universal flow to create resilient, sustainable energy systems for the 21st century and beyond. 'Someday, every battery will be a Switching Battery® — and every current will carry both power and wisdom.' Kannappan Chettiar SWITCHING BATTERY INC +1 831-643-5919 email us here Visit us on social media: LinkedIn Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. 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