What happened: Sofrware giant Microsoft (MSFT) and computer hardware makers Dell (DELL) and HP (HPE) rose in pre-market trading on Monday morning after AI chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) announced a major push into the personal computer market.
Whatโs behind the move: Nvidia has unveiled a new processor as it expands into the personal computer market, challenging the long-standing dominance of players like Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD). Shares of chip makers Intel and AMD declined 10% and 3% respectively.
Speaking at a trade show in Taipei, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed that the RTX Spark Superchip will launch this fall in select laptops and desktops from leading PC makers, including Dell, HP and Lenovo. The new processor combines computing and graphics functions in one chip and supports Microsoft Windows operating system on Arm-based architecture.
Shares of Microsoft soared 4% on Monday morning while chip designer Arm Holdings (ARM) jumped 11%.
What else you need to know: Investor interest in the AI sector has expanded beyond traditional semiconductor leaders as growing AI workloads fuel demand for CPUs used in servers and increasingly powerful personal computers designed for AI applications.
Microsoft shares have climbed in recent weeks as investors grow more optimistic about the company’s AI opportunities, reversing earlier concerns that the technology could disrupt parts of the software sector.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre.
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