Microsoft could unveil the company’s first chip designed for artificial intelligence (AI) at its annual developer’s conference. A move that would reduce its dependence on Nvidia-designed AI chips, which have been in short supply as demand for them has boomed, a report from The Information said.
The Microsoft chip is designed for data center services that train and run large language models, the software powering conversational AI features including those from OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Currently, Microsoft uses Nvidia’s GPUs to power cutting-edge LLMs for cloud customers including OpenAI and Intuit. And while Nvidia dominates the market for powerful AI chips, competitors are looking to catch up with the chipmaker even as the increasing popularity of AI services has created shortages of its AI chips.
Earlier this month, reports also emerged that OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT is also exploring making its own artificial intelligence chips and has gone as far as evaluating a potential acquisition. While OpenAI is yet to decide its further course of action, it has discussed various options to solve the shortage of expensive AI chips it relies on.
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These options included building its own AI working more closely with other chipmakers including Nvidia and also diversifying its suppliers beyond Nvidia.
And while the shortage of AI chips from Nvidia pushes companies to expand their own chipmaking capabilities, reports suggest that artificial intelligence chips from Advanced Micro Devices are about 80% as fast as those from Nvidia Corp, with a future path to matching their performance, according to a report from an AI software firm.
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