Microsoft takes aim at Google, Amazon, and Nvidia with new AI chip
Microsoft (MSFT) is taking aim at cloud rivals Amazon (AMZN) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) with the launch of its next-generation custom AI chip.
The chip, called Maia 200, will run in Microsoft’s own data centers before the company rolls it out to its broader customer base.
Like Google’s TPUs and Amazon’s Trainium processors, Microsoft’s second AI chip aims to give the Windows maker more flexibility in how it powers its AI services. By using chips it has developed itself, the company avoids having to rely solely on processors developed by Nvidia (NVDA) or AMD (AMD).
Google and Amazon have been using their own custom chips for years, while Microsoft has been slower to adopt in-house AI silicon.
According to Microsoft, the Maia 200 will be manufactured using TSMC’s 3-nanometer process and will be designed to run large-scale AI workloads while “delivering efficient performance per dollar.”
The Maia 200 will be placed in large server racks with trays housing four chips each. Microsoft also touts how quickly it can deploy new chips to data centers, saying the chips are installed and running AI models within days of the parts arriving.
Getting AI servers up and running quickly is an important aspect of the broader data center business. It’s not just about keeping construction costs low. The longer a chip sits unused, the less cash it can generate for the company by running AI applications.
The Maia 200 adds to the increasing competition Nvidia faces from both AMD and its own customers. Microsoft’s Maia 100 currently powers AI models from both the company and OpenAI (OPAI.PVT), while Google and Amazon power both their own models and those from Anthropic (ANTH.PVT).
And in November, Reported information He said Meta has been talking with Google about using the search giant’s TPUs to power AI services in its own data centers. This sent Nvidia shares plunging as Wall Street raised fears that the company was in danger of losing market share.
Nvidia’s stock price is up less than 1% since the beginning of the year.
Despite attacks on Nvidia’s turf, Google, Amazon and Microsoft are unlikely to pose a serious threat to the AI leader. Experts say the cloud company’s AI chips may work well for its own services, but that won’t translate as easily to smaller third-party customers.
Nvidia’s chips are also of great interest because they are designed to be multi-purpose, allowing companies to use them for many applications and services.
In terms of performance, the Maia 200 won’t displace Nvidia, but Microsoft claims it beats both Google’s latest TPU and Amazon’s latest Trainium chip in many categories. The Maia 200 also has higher bandwidth memory than what Google or Amazon offers, which is key to running high-powered AI applications.
