NVIDIA Announces Retirement of Tegra Xavier Processor and End of Linux Support
In a move that has shocked the tech industry, NVIDIA has announced the retirement of its former AI star, the Tegra Xavier processor. The company also revealed that it will cease support for the processor’s Linux system, marking the end of an era for the powerful AI-focused chip.
The Tegra Xavier processor, equipped with Arm core and Volta architecture GPU, was released just six years ago and was designed for robotics and other artificial intelligence applications. However, NVIDIA has now officially declared that the Xavier processor will no longer be supported, effectively consigning it to history.
The retirement of the Xavier processor comes as a surprise to many, as it was once hailed as the new star of NVIDIA’s Tegra product line. The processor has two versions: T194 and NX, with the T194 being the full version and the NX having some CPU and GPU cores emasculated. Although NVIDIA only mentioned “Tegra194” this time, it is likely that the NX version will also be included in the retirement.
What is intriguing about this announcement is that among the many Tegra chips, the relatively new Xavier processor is the first to be eliminated, while some older models are still in use. The decision is likely due to the fact that the Volta architecture adopted by Xavier is not as popular as other architectures, such as the successful installation of the X1 on the Nintendo Switch game console and the continued use of the X2.
The Volta architecture has only had a short-lived appearance in the server and professional graphics fields, with products such as the Tesla V100 and Titan V in 2017, the Quadro GV100 in 2018, and the CMP 100HX mining GPU in 2022. The introduction of the Turing architecture in 2018 further weakened the position of Volta, and the debut of the Ampere architecture in 2020 completely sentenced Volta to death.
Considering Volta’s marginal position in NVIDIA’s business, the retirement of the Xavier processor may indicate that other Volta GPUs will not escape the same fate. The future of other Volta architecture GPUs remains uncertain as NVIDIA shifts its focus to newer and more popular architectures.
With the retirement of the Tegra Xavier processor and the end of Linux support, the tech industry is left to ponder the implications of this decision and await further developments from NVIDIA.