Nvidia has pumped $25 million into China’s self-driving startup WeRide, which in fact is a big change in its funding focus after chopping its stake in British chipmaker Arm Holdings.
Based on a 13F regulatory report filed on Jan. 31, the AI big now owns 1.7 million shares of WeRide. The announcement despatched WeRide’s inventory surging over 90% in premarket buying and selling.
The Guangzhou-based WeRide, which makes a speciality of robotaxis, autonomous minibuses, and freight sanitation automobiles, has been increasing its attain within the self-driving area. Based in Silicon Valley in 2017, the corporate later included within the Cayman Islands earlier than launching China’s first robotaxi service in 2019. It debuted on Nasdaq in October 2024, attracting main AI traders trying to journey the autonomous tech wave.
Nvidia exits key AI investments
On the identical time, Nvidia has reduce its stake in Arm Holdings by 44%, bringing its funding within the UK-based chip designer right down to $136 million. Even with the discount, Arm remained Nvidia’s largest fairness holding on the finish of 2024.
The tech big additionally pulled out of a number of AI-related investments, together with Serve Robotics, SoundHound AI, and Nano-X Imaging. The sell-offs triggered market turmoil, with Serve Robotics tanking 36% in premarket buying and selling and SoundHound AI plummeting practically 25%.
In the meantime, Nvidia scooped up a $33 million stake in Nebius Group, an AI infrastructure firm. The funding despatched Nebius inventory hovering over 10% earlier than markets opened.
Whereas Nvidia reshuffles its portfolio, China’s tech sector is making main leaps in AI. A peer-reviewed research from Chinese language researchers revealed that domestically made GPUs had achieved a near-tenfold efficiency increase, surpassing among the strongest US supercomputers that depend on Nvidia’s {hardware}.
The analysis staff credited the efficiency surge to superior software program optimization strategies that allowed Chinese language-designed chips to outperform American-made processors in sure scientific computations.
A researcher concerned within the research famous: “This improvement considerably reduces reliance on overseas semiconductor know-how.” The findings counsel that Washington’s escalating tech sanctions could have unintended penalties, pushing China towards larger self-sufficiency in vital chip know-how.
Business specialists warn that software program workarounds gained’t exchange cutting-edge {hardware} in the long term. However Beijing’s push for home innovation reveals no indicators of slowing. Massive-scale simulations for city planning, flood protection, and different advanced fashions require huge computing energy, making these a lift for China’s AI dominance, based on Goldman analysts.
Nvidia’s newest strikes counsel the corporate is betting huge on AI-driven mobility, whilst the worldwide chip warfare intensifies. The shift from conventional semiconductor investments to self-driving and AI infrastructure may sign a brand new period for the tech powerhouse.
