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Microsoft, known more for its software than hardware, today announced two new chips: the Azure Maia AI Accelerator and the Azure Cobalt CPU. The move is a notable expansion of the company’s technological capabilities, with Maia in particular positioned as the tip of the spear for the Redmond-based tech giant’s AI strategy. Maia is specifically designed for AI tasks and generative AI in the data center environment. Microsoft is co-designing and optimizing hardware and software together to improve efficiency in cloud and AI workloads. With Maia, customers will have increased performance whether or not they are working with AI and it is energy efficient, allowing for a significant reduction in energy use and costs. Along with Maia, Microsoft introduced its new lineup of Cobalt chips, exploring ARM architecture—likely influenced by the efficiency benchmarks set by ARM-based chips like Apple’s M series. Microsoft’s bet on AI appears to be paying off, with its stock performance in 2023 being positively impacted. #Microsoft #AI #CloudComputing #ARMArchitecture
You can read more about this topic here: Decrypt: Meet Maia and Cobalt, Microsoft’s New Custom Chips Designed for AI Supremacy
