Israel-Hamas conflict prompts Nvidia to call off AI conference
Nvidia said safety was its top priority
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WARNING: Graphic footage — Former Israeli special operator Aaron Cohen reacts to Hamas terrorists attacking Israel on 'The Bottom Line.'
The ongoing clash between Israel and Hamas has led to California-based Nvidia calling off an upcoming artificial intelligence-focused (AI) conference.
The chipmaker published a message informing people it had decided to do so on the Oct. 15-16 summit’s webpage. It pointed to wanting to ensure the safety of expected participants amid the conflict as the reason behind the move.
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"The safety of our employees and their families is our top priority," an Nvidia spokesperson also told FOX Business on Monday. "Our offices in the country are operating according to Israel’s National Emergency Management Authority instructions."
The Nvidia logo is displayed on a phone screen behind a microchip in this illustration photo. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The conference in the coastal city of Tel Aviv was meant to offer "more than 60 live sessions led by experts from NVIDIA and the region’s tech leaders, who will dive deep into topics like accelerated computing, robotics, cybersecurity and climate change," according to a Sept. 21 blog post from the company. Prior to canceling it, Nvidia had anticipated some 2,500 attendees.
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CNBC earlier reported on Nvidia’s decision regarding the summit.
The Nvidia logo is seen during the annual Computex computer exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan, on May 30, 2017. (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu / Reuters Photos)
The company has been a major player in AI, a sector that has seen tremendous growth over the past year. In one of its recent efforts in the area, Nvidia revealed its latest computer chip capable of sustaining complex AI workloads roughly two months ago, FOX Business reported at the time.
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"A new computing era has begun. Companies worldwide are transitioning from general-purpose to accelerated computing and generative AI," Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang later said in an Aug. 23 quarterly earnings release.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVDA | NVIDIA CORP. | 146.67 | +0.78 | +0.53% |
Nvidia Corp
The chipmaker said on the now-canceled summit’s webpage that its heart goes out "to all those affected by the situation" in Israel.
A salvo of rockets is fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza as an Israeli missile launched from the Iron Dome defense missile system attempts to intercept the rockets over the city of Netivot, Israel, on Monday. (MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The total number of people who have died so far during the war between Israel and Hamas stood around 1,600 as of Monday evening, Fox News Digital reported. In Israel, the death toll was roughly 900.
The conflict has continued since kicking off Saturday morning, when Hamas terrorists attacked.