Part 4/8:
Nvidia has long been the central player in the AI hardware arena, benefiting immensely from the AI boom over the past decade. Their GPUs have become the gold standard for AI training, largely due to superior Linux drivers and the optimization of machine learning algorithms for proprietary libraries. However, the emergence of Deep Seek’s R1—which can effectively run on much less expensive consumer hardware like Apple M2 Ultras—throws a wrench in Nvidia’s established monopolistic advantages.