Nvidia Israel is on a hiring spree, and not for the first time in the last year. However, news of Nvidia's latest recruitment plans for "hundreds" of new staff, circulating in Israel-based media outlets is particularly interesting this time around. Globes business news reports that the new recruits are being hired for skills to fit in with a new design and engineering group for CPUs. Yes CPUs, not GPUs.
Hundreds of Israelis are being hired to fill roles which it is hoped will bring about the development of next-generation Nvidia CPUs, according to Globes. The report says that Nvidia Israel already employs 2,800 people across seven research facilities in the country; Yokneam, Tel-Hai, Raanana, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Jerusalem, Kiryat Gat and Beer Sheva. Nvidia has been quick to establish and grow its Israeli facilities; it set up its first R&D center in the country in 2016.
The base location for the new CPU R&D center isn't highlighted in the news report, but it is known that the hires will be broadly distributed across three disciplines; hardware, software, and architecture.
Globes shared a quote from Nvidia CTO Michael Kagan, confirming the CPU R&D group establishment, and discussing why Israel was chosen for the significant new investment. "Israel, with its unique wealth of talent, is a key player in the global tech ecosystem, and we are excited to be creating a new CPU group here," said Kagan. The CTO also made reference to the strong local tech ecosystem and Israel's supportive programs for start-ups and developers. It must be highlighted that Nvidia also runs its own Inception Program, with help / benefits / incentives being provided to over 300 Israeli start-ups.
Israel's importance to Nvidia has only got stronger since its acquisition of Israeli connectivity firm Mellanox in April 2020 for $7 billion. Shortly after that acquisition completed, Nvidia was advertising to recruit 600+ engineers to work on AI projects. One of Nvidia's biggest chip designing competitors, Intel, also has strong roots / connections in Israel – and both are now definitely competing for the same pool of talent.
