Nvidia’s Slurm Acquisition Stirs Rival Worries; H100 Rental Rates Jump 40%
Nvidia’s acquisition of SchedMD grants it control of Slurm, used by 60% of supercomputers, raising concerns it may favor its own chips over AMD and Intel. H100 GPU rental rates jumped 40% over six months to $2.35/hour and reached $14/hour on demand, prompting customers to secure supply via multi-year contracts.
1. SchedMD Acquisition Raises Open-Source Control Concerns
In December Nvidia agreed to acquire SchedMD, gaining ownership of Slurm, the open-source scheduler powering about 60% of the world’s supercomputers. Industry engineers worry Nvidia could prioritize software updates for its own GPUs, potentially disadvantaging competing hardware from AMD and Intel.
2. Soaring H100 Rental Rates Highlight Supply Tightness
Over the past six months, H100 GPU rental rates climbed roughly 40% to about $2.35 per hour, with on-demand peaks near $14 per hour. Customers are signing multi-year supply contracts, some extending to 2028, to guarantee access as rental capacity tightens.