By Adam Clark and Elsa Ohlen
Nvidia is still the most popular partner in town as big hitters such as Microsoft, Google and Oracle publicized their cooperation with the chip maker at its GTC developers' event. However, it is the Earth observation company Spire Global that looks to be getting a lift from the conference.
Spire Global shares were up 11% in early trading on Wednesday. The company said late Tuesday that it was launching two artificial-intelligence-powered weather models using Nvidia's Omniverse Blueprint for weather analytics.
"By harnessing the computational power of Nvidia GPUs [graphics-processing units] paired with the unique space-based data from our satellite network, we have developed AI-driven models that transform how industries manage weather risks," said Michael Eilts, general manager of weather and climate at Spire, in a statement.
The news was just one a raft of corporate announcements tied into Nvidia's GTC event but the majority weren't having much effect on stocks. The market has turned cooler on the AI trend in recent months.
Microsoft and Alphabet both said they would give access to Nvidia's Blackwell Ultra AI hardware, which is set to be shipped later this year, via their cloud-computing businesses. Oracle also said it would be among the first to offer the hardware, which it said will deliver 1.5 times better AI performance than existing Blackwell systems.
Shares of all three companies were up less than 1% in early trading.
Beyond the world of cloud computing, General Motors said it would use Nvidia's in-vehicle computer for future advanced driver-assistance systems. Toyota, BYD and Mercedes-Benz, among other auto makers, have made the same move, according to Nvidia.
GM also said it would use Nvidia's AI technology to create "digital twins" of its assembly lines, allowing simulations that improve factory operations. GM shares were up 0.4% in morning trading.
GE Healthcare and Nvidia said Tuesday they are teaming up on the use of AI to make diagnoses without the involvement of humans, using imaging such as X-ray ultrasound. GE Healthcare aims to develop AI-enabled imaging systems by using Nvidia platforms.
It comes as increased medical spending and persistent staffing shortages weigh on the healthcare industry in 2025, according to market research by Apollo Intelligence. In an Apollo survey of 200 healthcare providers, 86% of respondents said it was likely that AI will continue to transform healthcare in the coming year while 67% said they were already using AI in some form in their practice.
"The healthcare industry is one of the most important applications of AI, as the demand for healthcare services far exceeds the supply," said Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare, in a statement.
GE Healthcare shares were up 0.1%.
Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 19, 2025 10:04 ET (14:04 GMT)
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