Microsoft and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are said to be;collaborating;on an alternative to Nvidia's AI-capable chips, according to Bloomberg.
Microsoft is supporting AMD's expansion into AI processors and is working with the chipmaker on Microsoft's in-house chip for AI workloads, known as Athena, sources told the publication.
- Microsoft is also said to be providing engineering resources to support AMD's chip development.
- AMD will reportedly partner with Microsoft on its homegrown processor for AI workloads, code-named Athena.
- However, a Microsoft spokesperson denied AMD's involvement in Athena.
- The news comes as the need for AI-capable silicon is becoming more crucial, particularly for Microsoft's computing resources for OpenAI's ChatGPT.
- The Athena chips will power large language models like ChatGPT, and Microsoft has invested $2B into the project so far.
- The in-house chips would not fully replace Microsoft's reliance on Nvidia, the top supplier of AI server processors.
- For Microsoft, the Athena chipset would be a cheaper alternative that could train and run AI models for Microsoft's data centers.