Nvidia Corp.'s (NASDAQ:NVDA) most famous skeptic just handed the chip giant a new rival to worry about.
輝達公司（納斯達克：NVDA）最著名的懷疑者剛剛為這家晶片巨頭送上了一個新的競爭對手，令其不得不擔憂。
Michael Burrydeclared on Tuesday that "This is serious competition for NVDA," pointing to a Wall Street Journal report onEtched— a startup that has spent the past two years quietly stocking its engineering ranks with Nvidia's own talent.
Michael Burry周二表示：「這對NVDA來說是嚴峻的競爭，」並指出《華爾街日報》一篇關於Etched的報導——這家初創公司過去兩年一直在悄悄從輝達挖角工程師。
NVDA stock is moving. See the chart and price action here.
NVDA股價正在波動。請在此查看圖表和價格走勢。
This is serious competition for NVDA.
The startup says it took just 44 days after getting its test chips back from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing to have them up and running inference workloads—the computing processes that allow AI models to respond to user queries—a...— Cassandra Unchained (@michaeljburry) August 18, 2026
這對NVDA來說是嚴峻的競爭。
該初創公司表示，從台積電拿回測試晶片後，僅用了44天就讓這些晶片開始運行推理工作負載——即讓AI模型能夠響應用戶查詢的計算過程——…— Cassandra Unchained (@michaeljburry) 2026年8月18日
According to the report, Etched said it took just 44 days after getting test chips back fromTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturingto have them running inference workloads. The process typically takes six months or longer, the report said.
據該報導，Etched稱，從台積電拿回測試晶片後，僅用了44天就讓這些晶片開始運行推理工作負載。報導稱，這一過程通常需要六個月或更長時間。
Central to that speed isBrian Loiler,who spent 22 years at Nvidia building its HGX and DGX server systems before Etched recruited him in 2024 as VP of Platform, according to the company.
這種速度的關鍵人物是Brian Loiler，據該公司稱，他曾在輝達工作22年，負責構建其HGX和DGX服務器系統，並於2024年被Etched聘為平台副總裁。
Since joining, Loiler has helped pull roughly a dozen more engineers away from Nvidia — some of whom turned down richer counteroffers to stay, the Journal reported. Nvidia alumni now make up about 15% of Etched's roughly 400-person workforce, per the report.
自加入以來，Loiler已幫助從輝達挖來了大約十幾名工程師——據《華爾街日報》報導，其中一些人甚至拒絕了更高的留任反報價。報導稱，輝達前員工目前約佔Etched約400人團隊的15%。
A Chip Built for One Job
專為單一任務打造的晶片
Etched's flagship product, a chip called Sohu, is designed exclusively to run transformer-based AI models — the architecture behind large language models like ChatGPT — rather than functioning as a general-purpose GPU the way Nvidia's chips do, CNBC reported when the company first emerged.
據CNBC在該公司首次亮相時的報導，Etched的旗艦產品是一款名為Sohu的晶片，專為運行基於Transformer架構的AI模型而設計——這種架構正是ChatGPT等大語言模型的基礎——而不是像輝達的晶片那樣作為通用GPU使用。
The startup raised a $120 million Series A in 2024 with backing fromPeter Thieland Replit CEOAmjad Masad,Reuters reported at the time. Etched closed a $300 million Series C in July that pushed its valuation to $10.3 billion, led by Sequoia with participation fromAndreessen Horowitz,Jane Street,DiffusionandSK Hynix(NASDAQ:SKHY).
據路透社當時報導，這家初創公司在2024年完成了$1.2億的A輪融資，投資方包括彼得·蒂爾和Replit首席執行長Amjad Masad。Etched於7月完成了$3億的C輪融資，使其估值達到$103億，本輪融資由Sequoia領投，Andreessen Horowitz、Jane Street、Diffusion和SK Hynix（納斯達克：SKHY）參與投資。
The Bottom Line
核心要點
Burry's been hammering the same point for months: Nvidia's grip on AI chips isn't as unshakable as Wall Street thinks. Etched just gave him a fresh talking point — a two-year-old startup that built its bench almost entirely out of Nvidia's own engineers.
Burry幾個月來一直在反覆強調同一個觀點：輝達對AI晶片的掌控並沒有華爾街認為的那樣牢不可破。Etched剛剛為他提供了一個新的論據——這家成立僅兩年的初創公司，其團隊幾乎完全由輝達自己的工程師組成。
NVDA Stock Price Activity:Nvidia stock was down 2.24% at $219.97 at the time of publication Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro.
輝達股價動態：據Benzinga Pro周二發佈時的數據，輝達股價下跌了2.24%，報$219.97。(Benzinga)