Nvidia Cancels Tel Aviv AI Summit Amid Israel-Palestine Conflict
Chip major Nvidia canceled its AI conference. Which was scheduled in the next week amid safety concerns due to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
Nvidia had planned its in-person AI summit, featuring a keynote address by CEO Jensen Huang, which was scheduled to take place on 15th and 16th October in Tel Aviv. The event was promoted as "the premier conference for developers, business leaders, and AI researchers." Leading up to the summit, Nvidia showcased Israel's impressive landscape, boasting over 6,000 startups and a significant per capita venture capital investment, establishing it as one of the globe's most dynamic technology hubs.
Nvidia's revenue spiked more than 100 per cent year on year (YoY) in the second fiscal quarter. Yet there has been a shortage for AI chips in the industry. In Huang’s summit keynote, CEO Huang planned to discuss Nvidia’s latest in generative AI and cloud computing.
Nearly 2,500 developers, researchers and tech workers were registered to attend the two-day conference. Nvidia confirmed to a media outlet that it was set to feature more than 60 live sessions on topics ranging from generative AI, supercomputing and large language models, to autonomous vehicles, health care, cybersecurity and many more
The event was scheduled with prominent individuals within Nvidia, including figures like Kimberly Powell, who holds the position of Vice President of Healthcare, Deepu Talla, Vice President of Embedded and Edge Computing, and Gilad Shainer, Senior Vice President of Networking and High-Performance Computing. Additionally, executives from companies like Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Snowflake, and Lenovo were also slated to lead sessions, with some of them being sponsored.
“We regret to inform you that due to the current situation in Israel, we have decided to cancel AI SUMMIT,” Nvidia announced on the event’s website. “Our hearts go out to all those affected by the situation. The safety and well-being of our participants are our top priority, and we believe this is the best course of action to ensure everyone’s safety."
