CNBC Daily Open: Nvidia is selling more shovels than ever in the AI gold rush

Hello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC's Daily Open.

The sales have been massive. Nvidia reported results that beat expectations, while forecasting revenue to grow 70% in fiscal 2028.

But when shovels become too expensive, the miners start forging their own. OpenAI has begun developing their own chips, making the company a potential competitor to Nvidia in some areas.

Nvidia results beating market estimates is becoming a new normal. The company reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and issued revenue forecast that topped estimates. 

For the three months ended June, revenue more than doubled to $96.22 billion, and net income in the quarter also jumped over 100% to $53.95 billion, or $2.22 per share.

CFO Colette Kress said on a call with analysts that Nvidia expects fiscal 2028 revenue growth of 70%, far exceeding the 44% analysts were expecting.

There is, however, a growing threat to Nvidia, or at least to parts of its business, as AI makers are increasingly announcing their own custom chips.

OpenAI's first AI chip, known as the Jalapeño, has "industry-leading speed and efficiency," the company said on Tuesday. Major companies developing their own AI chips include Google, AWS and Meta.

OpenAI said Jalapeño delivered between 1.5 times and 1.9 times more AI work per watt than selected Nvidia systems across three publicly available models. It also reported lower latency in those tests.

Nvidia was not the only tech firm to post robust earnings. Salesforce shares surged more than 12% after the enterprise software company beat second-quarter estimates and raised its full-year outlook.

New iPhones on the way

Apple will hold its annual iPhone launch event on Sept. 9, its first under incoming CEO John Ternus.

Ternus, previously Apple's hardware chief, takes over from Tim Cook on Sept. 1. Cook will remain at the company as executive chairman.

The event carries the tagline "Surprise and shine" and is expected to include new Pro iPhones, with speculation also centering on Apple's long-awaited foldable device.

Inflation and Jackson Hole

Over in markets, the S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Wednesday after U.S. headline inflation came in slightly higher than expected.

The personal consumption expenditures price index, climbed 0.2% month on month and 3.7% year on year in July. Both were 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus.

However, core inflation readings were in line with expectations, coming in at 3.3%. Both numbers are still well above the Fed's 2% target.

The report comes as Fed officials will meet in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Thursday stateside.

While no decision is taken at the annual economic policy symposium, investors will be watching Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's keynote speech after long-term borrowing costs hit a near-two-decade high last week and the Treasury intervened in the bond market.

Oil prices were also little changed after Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Tehran had reached an agreement with Oman over the control of and revenue from the Strait of Hormuz.

Ships would enter the Persian Gulf through Iranian waters, and exit through a corridor that will include both Iranian and Omani territorial waters, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said, according to state news agency Tasnim.

— Lim Hui Jie

Fed, NASA and DOJ among victims of Chinese state-sponsored hacker group: Court documents

The Federal Reserve, the U.S. Senate, the Department of Justice, NASA and other federal agencies were victims of computer intrusions by a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group, the DOJ said Wednesday morning as it announced the court-ordered seizure of internet domains used for hacking platforms.

The hacking platforms, known as "QScan" and "QTRouter," were "used to target U.S. critical infrastructure and other sensitive networks," the DOJ said in a statement.

"Other targeted networks include those operated by hospitals, telecommunications providers, power companies, financial institutions, and defense contractors," a court filing said.

— Dan Mangan