On Wednesday, Microsoft launched two new artificial intelligence chips during the Ignite technology conference in Seattle, USA. Microsoft thus joins the ranks of major technology companies that develop and produce artificial intelligence services internally, due to the high costs of delivering artificial intelligence products, which are produced and developed by Nvidia, among other companies, according to Reuters.
The first chip, the Maia 100, can compete with Nvidia’s AI-powered GPUs that dominate the market. The other chip, Cobalt 100 Arm, targets more general computing tasks and can compete with Intel processors, CNBC reported.
Microsoft announced that it has no plans to sell artificial intelligence chips. The company prefers to use the chips to power its subscription-based software services, and as part of the cloud provider’s Azure service.
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Demand for Nvidia’s A100 and H100 chips has far outstripped supply over the past year, and Microsoft has tapped rival cloud providers like Oracle for additional GPU capacity to support its AI services.
OpenAI – which is backed by Microsoft and relies on its infrastructure – was forced on Tuesday to temporarily halt new registrations for its ChatGPT Plus service, after a sharp increase in the use of the software, the Financial Times reported.
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