Microsoft, a leading technology company, is making significant strides in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) by targeting the acquisition of 1.8 million AI chips, specifically GPUs, by the end of 2024. This ambitious goal was revealed in internal documents and signifies Microsoft's commitment to staying at the forefront of AI technology.
Microsoft's investment in AI is driven by growing demand for advanced solutions from both consumers and industries. The substantial quantity of chips implies a broad deployment across Microsoft's product range, including cloud services like Azure, consumer electronics, and more.
The documents also suggest that Microsoft plans to triple the number of GPUs it has in 2024. In partnership with OpenAI, Microsoft is expected to spend around $100 billion on GPU purchases and data centers from this fiscal year until 2027.
Microsoft's competitors, such as Meta and Google, are also investing heavily in AI technology. For instance, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social media company will purchase about 350,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs in 2024 and aims to have around 600,00 of these and equivalent chips by the end of the year.
Microsoft's efforts to design its own AI chips in-house, such as Azure Maia 100, aim to reduce reliance on external suppliers like Nvidia. However, some employees are skeptical about Microsoft's ability to compete with industry leaders given the rapid pace of technological advancements.
Microsoft's expansion in data center capacity is also noteworthy. The company plans to double new build Azure capacity in the second half of this fiscal year and triple its datacenter capacity in the first half of its fiscal 2025. This significant investment will enable Microsoft to handle increasing demand for AI-driven solutions and maintain a competitive edge.
