When you pip install a package with compiled code, the wheel you get is built for CPU features from 2009. Want newer optimizations like AVX2? Your installer has no way to ask for them. GPU support? You're on your own configuring special index URLs. The result is fat binaries, nearly gigabyte-sized wheels, and install pages that read like puzzle books. A coalition from NVIDIA, Astral, and QuantSight has been working on Wheel Next: A set of PEPs that let packages declare what hardware they need and let installers like uv pick the right build automatically. Just uv pip install torch and it works. I sit down with Jonathan Dekhtiar from NVIDIA, Ralf Gommers from QuantSight and the NumPy and SciPy teams, and Charlie Marsh, founder of Astral and creator of uv, to dig into all of it. 
 
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<h2 class="links-heading mb-4">Links from the show</h2>
<div>Guests 
Charlie Marsh: <a href="https://github.com/charliermarsh?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >github.com</a> 
Ralf Gommers: <a href="https://github.com/rgommers?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >github.com</a> 
Jonathan Dekhtiar: <a href="https://github.com/DEKHTIARJonathan?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >github.com</a> 
 
CPU dispatcher: <a href="https://numpy.org/doc/stable/reference/simd/how-it-works.html?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >numpy.org</a> 
build options: <a href="https://numpy.org/doc/stable/reference/simd/build-options.html?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >numpy.org</a> 
Red Hat RHEL: <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/linux-platforms/enterprise-linux?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >www.redhat.com</a> 
Red Hat RHEL AI: <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/products/ai?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >www.redhat.com</a> 
RedHats presentation: <a href="https://wheelnext.dev/summits/2025_03/assets/WheelNext%20Community%20Summit%20-%2006%20-%20Red%20Hat.pdf?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >wheelnext.dev</a> 
CUDA release: <a href="https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda/toolkit?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >developer.nvidia.com</a> 
requires a PEP: <a href="https://discuss.python.org/t/pep-proposal-platform-aware-gpu-packaging-and-installation-for-python/91910?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >discuss.python.org</a> 
WheelNext: <a href="https://wheelnext.dev/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >wheelnext.dev</a> 
Github repo: <a href="https://github.com/wheelnext?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >github.com</a> 
PEP 817: <a href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0817/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >peps.python.org</a> 
PEP 825: <a href="https://discuss.python.org/t/pep-825-wheel-variants-package-format-split-from-pep-817/106196?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >discuss.python.org</a> 
uv: <a href="https://docs.astral.sh/uv/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >docs.astral.sh</a> 
A variant-enabled build of uv: <a href="https://astral.sh/blog/wheel-variants?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >astral.sh</a> 
pyx: <a href="https://astral.sh/blog/introducing-pyx?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >astral.sh</a> 
pypackaging-native: <a href="https://pypackaging-native.github.io?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >pypackaging-native.github.io</a> 
PEP 784: <a href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0784/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >peps.python.org</a> 
 
Watch this episode on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=761htncGZpU" target="_blank" >youtube.com</a> 
Episode #544 deep-dive: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/episodes/show/544/wheel-next-packaging-peps#takeaways-anchor" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm/544</a> 
Episode transcripts: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/episodes/transcript/544/wheel-next-packaging-peps" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm</a> 
 
Theme Song: Developer Rap 
🥁 Served in a Flask 🎸: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/flasksong" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm/flasksong</a> 
 
---== Don't be a stranger ==--- 
YouTube: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/youtube" target="_blank" > youtube.com/@talkpython</a> 
 
Bluesky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/talkpython.fm" target="_blank" >@talkpython.fm</a> 
Mastodon: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/web/@talkpython" target="_blank" > @talkpython@fosstodon.org</a> 
X.com: <a href="https://x.com/talkpython" target="_blank" > @talkpython</a> 
 
Michael on Bluesky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mkennedy.codes?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >@mkennedy.codes</a> 
Michael on Mastodon: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/web/@mkennedy" target="_blank" > @mkennedy@fosstodon.org</a> 
Michael on X.com: <a href="https://x.com/mkennedy?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" > @mkennedy</a> </div>

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