Microsoft is increasing its efforts to stay at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) and not get left behind by the competition. This year, the Redmond firm has purchased twice as many processors from Nvidia as its fiercest rivals.
Microsoft does not want to be ahead of itself
According to data from the analysis firm Omdia, it acquired 485,000 H100 chips, an artificial intelligence accelerator. With this model retailing for around $30,000, that represents around 20% of Nvidia’s revenue this year. For comparison, Meta comes in second with 224,000 units, followed by Amazon and Google with the purchase of 196,000 and 169,000 chips respectively..
Omdia obtained this information based on supply chain data, publicly disclosed capital expenditures and server shipment data. They demonstrate the immense ambitions of Microsoft, which is doing everything it can to stay at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI).
Since its colossal multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI, the company has been rolling out the technology across all of its products. A few weeks ago, it even signed an agreement to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant and acquire all the energy produced by the plant to power its data centers.
Too much spending?
It is, for the moment, a winning strategy. Microsoft is currently the second most valuable company in the world behind Apple, although some analysts raise concerns due to the company’s astronomical spending to support its efforts. The development of its own AI chip, Maia, should also allow it to reduce its dependence on Nvidia.
As a reminder, the boom in generative AI has literally exploded the manufacturer’s turnover, because it almost completely dominates the field of artificial intelligence accelerators. The tech giants are now looking to design their own models, but it is a long-term task, especially to achieve results as convincing as those offered by Nvidia.
Another notable point from Omdia data, Chinese companies ByteDance and Tencent have each ordered around 230,000 Nvidia chips, including the H20, a restricted version of the H100 specially designed for the Chinese market. This testifies to the aspirations of the parent company of TikTok, which also imagines itself as a leader in AI.
- This year, Microsoft has purchased twice as many AI chips from Nvidia as its biggest rivals, including Meta, Amazon and Google.
- This figure testifies to the company’s immense ambitions, but above all to the efforts it is making to avoid being left behind in the race for generative AI.
- At the same time, Microsoft is developing its own AI chip.
