Rather than relying on solutions developed by potential competitors, Microsoft is said to be working on its own processors, and is even close to unveiling them.
Artificial intelligence is on everyone's lips, in every debate. Artificial intelligence is much talked about, but also much fantasized about. However, the major players in the IT world have gone far beyond the realm of fantasy, and Microsoft knows better than anyone the current, and above all future, importance of artificial intelligence. Today, the Redmond-based company is already operating processors specialized in artificial intelligence. In its data centers, NVIDIA H100 GPUs are used to power the various artificial intelligence tools offered by Microsoft. These include the Copilot assistant and the Bing Chat chatbot. And it's a safe bet that Microsoft has many other projects in the pipeline.
The problem is that, by using NVIDIA chips, Microsoft is necessarily limiting its own development, or rather, tying it in with that of another company, a potential competitor. According to a report by The Information, relayed by Neowin, Microsoft is thinking of going its own way: the developer of Windows would like to develop its own chips specialized in operations linked to artificial intelligence, or AI gas pedals as they are called. In fact, Microsoft would not have " the idea of...", as The Information article is much more precise: Microsoft is already working on such chips, and the firm would rather reveal its project at the Ignite 2023 conference, to be held from November 14 to 17 in Seattle, USA.
The question, then, is what stage Microsoft has reached in the project, and it is expected to use Ignite 2023 to unveil many other projects closely or remotely related to artificial intelligence. According to The Information, Microsoft's AI GPU project started in 2019 and now involves more than 300 highly qualified people. The project is codenamed "Athena", and Microsoft could well surprise everyone, even if it might seem tricky to compete with NVIDIA and all its experience in the field.
