Nvidia Lands SpaceX, Nebius as Early Vera CPU Customers

NVIDIA's Vera Rubin NVL72 GPU system delivers up to 30x higher throughput per megawatt than its GB300 NVL72 predecessor on agentic AI workloads, according to measurements using the SemiAnalysis AgentX benchmark. Agentic tasks consume 15x more tokens than simple chat because agents iteratively query databases, invoke sub-agents, and accumulate context across multiple reasoning steps. For power-constrained AI infrastructure operators, the efficiency gain translates directly to running significantly more agent-based work within the same energy budget.

IBM announced a dual-architecture mainframe processor at Hot Chips that can natively execute both Arm and IBM Z instruction sets on the same cores, switching between them in nanoseconds. Built on 2-nanometer process technology with 11 cores running above 5.7 GHz, the chip allows enterprises to run Arm-native Linux software and AI frameworks alongside z/OS transaction-processing workloads on shared silicon. The design represents the first hardware outcome of IBM and Arm's April strategic collaboration and directly addresses whether mainframes can remain relevant in an AI-dominated infrastructure landscape.

General Intuition, an AI startup developing foundation models for generalized agents that navigate physical and temporal space, is raising capital at a $6 billion pre-money valuation from investors including Valor Ventures, Point72 Ventures, and Seven Seven Six. The funding round signals investor confidence in AI systems designed for robotics and embodied AI applications. The startup's focus on spatial reasoning and agent movement represents a shift toward practical, physical-world AI deployment.

Nvidia is raising prices for its Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin flagship AI chip systems by approximately 17%, according to server makers. The increase adds to mounting cost pressures facing cloud providers and data center developers, who are already contending with power infrastructure delays and other unexpected expenses. The price hike reflects Nvidia's market position as demand for advanced AI chips remains strong despite the growing cost burden on customers.