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Modular: What exactly is “CUDA”? (Democratizing AI Compute, Part 2)

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It seems like everyone has started talking about CUDA in the last year: It’s the backbone of deep learning, the reason novel hardware struggles to compete, and the core of NVIDIA’s moat and soaring market cap. With DeepSeek, we got a startling revelation: its breakthrough was made possible by “bypassing” CUDA, going directly to the PTX layer… but what does this actually mean? It feels like everyone wants to break past the lock-in, but we have to understand what we’re up against before we can formulate a plan. This is Part 2 of Modular’s “Democratizing AI Compute” series. For more, see: CUDA’s dominance in AI is undeniable—but most people don’t fully understand what CUDA actually is. Some think it’s a programming language. Others call it a framework. Many assume it’s just “that thing NVIDIA uses to make GPUs faster.” None of these are entirely wrong—and many brilliant people are trying to explain this—but none capture the full scope of “The CUDA Platform.” CUDA is not just one thing. It

Modular: What exactly is “CUDA”? (Democratizing AI Compute, Part 2) Qualcomm to Acquire Modular. Read More → February 5, 2025 What exactly is “CUDA”? (Democratizing AI Compute, Part 2) Chris Lattner Series It seems like everyone has started talking about CUDA in the last year: It’s the backbone of deep learning, the reason novel hardware struggles to compete, and the core of NVIDIA’s moat and soaring market cap. With DeepSeek, we got a startling revelation: its breakthrough was made possible by “bypassing” CUDA , going directly to the PTX layer … but what does this actually mean? It feels like

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