Nvidia cancels GTC developer event over coronavirus fears
Nvidia has canceled its GPU Technology Conference, which would have brought more than 10,000 people to San Jose three weeks from now. The company cited “growing concern over the coronavirus” for its decision, and said it will attempt to host as much of the content online as possible.
In an update to the GTC page, Nvidia explained:
“Jensen will still give a keynote. We will still share our announcements. And we’ll work to ensure our speakers can share their talks. But we’ll do this all online.”
The five-day event was scheduled to take place at the San Jose convention center starting on March 22. Some 250 companies would be exhibiting or attending in some form or another, presenting and hearing talks on the latest applications of GPUs and high performance computing.
Unfortunately, GTC has gone the way of the Game Developers Conference, Mobile World Congress, F8, and numerous other major events that rightly worried that such a high concentration of international travelers might prove to be a breeding ground for the coronavirus currently spreading worldwide.
No doubt a good number of exhibitors and attendees were already canceling or questioning their attendance; Many companies have already restricted international travel for any reason at all.
Anyone who paid for a pass to GTC will receive a full refund, but Nvidia is hoping to salvage at least some of its programming.
“We will be working with our conference speakers to begin publishing their talks online beginning in the weeks ahead,” wrote the company in a blog post announcing the decision. “Additionally, for those in NVIDIA’s developer program, we plan to schedule availability with our researchers, engineers and solution architects to answer technical questions.”
All updates, including content, should appear on the GTC page going forward.
Nvidia has canceled its GPU Technology Conference, which would have brought more than 10,000 people to San Jose three weeks from now. The company cited “growing concern over the coronavirus” for its decision, and said it will attempt to host as much of the content online as possible. In an…
