Nvidia vs Cerebras: Which Is the Better Discount AI Buy Now?

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Cerebras Systems (NASDAQ: CBRS) both offer something in great need right now: the high-powered compute to fuel artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. Nvidia is the better-known of the two, having been in the chip space for more than 30 years, and today dominates the AI chip market. Cerebras is an exciting new player with a very powerful chip.

Both of these companies could make an interesting investment, and they have seen their shares decline from highs in recent times. This presents a potential buying opportunity. But which is the better discount AI buy right now? Let's find out.

Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue "

The case for Nvidia

Nvidia hardly needs an introduction these days. The company has made headlines since the start of the AI boom as its comments set the tone for what happens next in this market. Nvidia designs the world's most sought-after graphics processing units (GPUs), the key chips needed to power essential tasks like the training and inference of models.

The company was first to enter this market and has made innovation a focus -- that's helped it stay ahead of rivals. In fact, Nvidia updates its GPUs on an annual basis, and the next update is right around the corner. The company aims to ship its Vera Rubin platform later this year, and it will offer an important new product: the stand-alone central processing unit (CPU).

This opens up a new $200 billion market to Nvidia, and the company plans on conquering it. In its latest earnings report, it predicted $20 billion in stand-alone CPU sales this year and said it was on track to dominate this market.

Meanwhile, Nvidia has proven its strength over time, and in recent years has delivered quarter after quarter of double- or triple-digit earnings gains. And earnings have reached record levels amid this AI boom. All of this is likely to continue, considering the sustained level of demand and the idea that AI is in its early days of real-world use.

The case for Cerebras

Cerebras may not be a household name like Nvidia, but the company's technology might quickly put it on the radar screens of many investors. This player has designed a giant chip, its wafer-scale engine (WSE), that it says delivers speeds faster than today's GPUs. How has Cerebras accomplished this? By making the WSE 58 times larger than Nvidia's B200 chip.