- By Ashish Singh
- Thu, 16 Nov 2023 12:15 PM (IST)
- Source:IANS
Microsoft has introduced two custom-designed CPUs for its Azure cloud services at its Ignite 2023 event including Microsoft Azure Maia AI Accelerator and Microsoft Azure Cobalt CPU. The Microsoft Azure Maia AI Accelerator is tuned for AI tasks and generative AI, whereas the Arm-based Microsoft Azure Cobalt CPU is designed for general-purpose computing workloads. These processors will be available in Microsoft data centres early next year, first powering applications like Microsoft Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service.
Microsoft's Cloud + AI Group Executive Vice President Scott Guthrie said, “The objective is to develop an Azure hardware system that maximises flexibility and can be adjusted for power, performance, sustainability, or cost.”
Microsoft intends to introduce these new chips as a planned strategic move to ensure that each component is specifically designed for workloads related to AI and Microsoft cloud services. Borkar stressed that Microsoft is a systems company that collaborates to co-design and optimise software and hardware for improved synergy.
At the Microsoft Ignite event, the company also announced the general availability of Azure Boost, which is designed to accelerate networking and storage by offloading processes onto dedicated hardware and software.
Microsoft is growing its industry alliances in order to provide clients with additional options for infrastructure, in addition to its attempts to develop customised silicon. Customers now will have more options in terms of pricing and performance when first-party silicon is added to the ecosystem of industry partners' chips and gear.
READ: Microsoft Windows 11 Update: Now You Can Uninstall Annoying Default Applications; Here's How
Meanwhile, OpenAI has paused the signups for the ChatGPT Plus subscriptions due to the overwhelming response. This came after CEO Sam Altman announced “We are temporarily suspending new ChatGPT Plus sign-ups since the surge in usage following Dev Day has exceeded our capacity, and we want to ensure that everyone has a positive experience.”
