Locator: 49148B.
NDIC website: looks like the website is down tonight. Or at least some modules.
Nvidia: Jensen Huang is not through buying; he just spent $900 million (~ $1 billion) to hire Enfabrica CEO, license AI startup's technology; link here.
- Efabrica's technology: can connect more than 100,000 GPUs together;
- currently, Nvidia's racks come with 72 GPUs installed working together;
- e.g., the kind of system announced by Microsoft today: a $4 billion data center in Wisconsin;
- Microsoft's Wisconsin AI data center, part of a $7.3 billion campus in Mount Pleasant, connects its servers with fiber optic cables . The facility is built to operate as a single AI supercomputer, and the vast scale and speed requirements of AI workloads necessitate fiber over traditional copper links.
- While the specific provider for the Wisconsin data center's fiberoptic cables isn't directly stated, the partnership between Microsoft and Lumen Technologies for next-generation AI infrastructure indicates Lumen is a likely key supplier for Microsoft's network needs, including those at the Wisconsin facility.
- Lumen has reserved a portion of Corning's fiber-optic cable production to support AI-driven applications, and their agreement will help meet the surging demand from large data centers like Microsoft.
- Lumen Technologies and Corning are collaborating and have established a
supply agreement where Corning will provide Lumen with its
next-generation optical fiber and cable to expand Lumen's network
infrastructure for high-bandwidth applications, particularly for
Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers. Corning's innovative,
fiber-dense cable system allows Lumen to install significantly more
fiber in the same conduit, increasing network capacity and preparig
Lumen to support major cloud data center clients.
Market: I'll post more later tonight. Pressed for time right now due to family commitments, but three things:
- I couldn't be happier about how the market did today;
- CNBC "Fast Money" panel attributed the US stock market action due to the quarter-basis-point cut; they were completely wrong; I'll explain later;
- I was completely wrong regarding my earlier comments about the Nvidia-Intel deal
- I can't recall if I posted that on the blog or if my comments were in sidebar (e-mail) discussion with a reader; regardless, I'll talk about that later, also
- for now, Jim Cramer had the best explanation during his opening on "Mad Money," CNBC, although more can be added.
Intel-Nvidia: Market Watch, link here.
Different styles:
- Pat Gelsinger: looking to sell parts of Intel to raise badly needed cash to save company;
- Lip-Bu Tan: venture capitalist; one of the best in the world; former Intel executive; raising money by offering stakes in the company:
- SoftBank: $2 billion, August, 2025
- Trump: $8.9 billion stake, August, 2025 (no new money; Intel had already received the money)
- Intel: $5 billioin, September, 2025
Cramer:
- $5-billion deal:
- did not mention "foundry"
- focused on server and PC (think "Intel inside," #1 competitor: AMD)
Cramer:
- doesn't guarantee survival of Intel
- Intel still needs to execute
- remains a huge challenge
- at this point, Nvidia's stake is mostly a huge "stamp of approval" supporting President Trump
- but, long term, Nvidia widens its strategic footprint
- currently, core competency -- GPUs for hyperscalers
- stake in Intel: consumer electronics (PCs) and servers (retail and commercial)
Good news:
- supports the view
- that the fourth industrial revolution (AI, large data centers, hyperscalers) is real;
- that the revolution is not hyperbole, not a bubble, not hype
- winners and losers not settled
- still very, very early
- plenty of time to methodically invest in the fourth industrial revolution
*****************************
Back to the Bakken
WTI: $63.54.
Active rigs: unable to download daily activity report.
Five new permits, #42319 - 42323, inclusive, Hess, Cottonwood oil field:
- 42319, Hess, RS-Holland-157-92-3624H-2, Cottonwood, 467 FNL 275 FWL;
- 42320, Hess, RS-Holland-157-92-3624H-3, Cottonwood, 467 FNL 308 FWL;
- 42321, Hess, RS-Holland-157-92-3624H-5, Cottonwood, 467 FNL 375 FWL;
- 42322, Hess, RS-Holland-157-92-3624H-4, Cottonwood, 467 FNL 341 FWL;
- 42323, Hess, RS-Holland-157-92-3624H-6, Cottonwood, 467 FNL 408 FWL;
