Microsoft Developing Its Own AI Chip to Power ChatGPT
Microsoft has been reportedly developing its machine learning chips since 2019 to deal with the rising costs of development for in-house and OpenAI projects. The Information reported that Microsoft's newly revealed hardware venture is designed to reduce the Redmond, Washington company's reliance on Nvidia's GPUs. The aim of this venture is to help control the cost of powering large language models, including the one behind OpenAI's ChatGPT.
The Nvidia H100 is one of the most popular GPUs for training machine learning systems, and it costs up to $40,000 on reseller services, such as eBay, due to the increasing market scarcity. These high costs have pushed several Big Tech companies to develop their hardware. Similarly, Google, Amazon, and Meta have developed machine-learning chips in recent years.
As per The Information's report, Microsoft's chips are being developed under the code name "Athena." The report also revealed that the new chips are already being tested by team members from Microsoft's internal machine-learning staff and OpenAI's developers.
OpenAI Plans to Use Microsoft's AI Chips
It has not been revealed how OpenAI intends to use Microsoft's AI chips, but the company's CEO, Sam Altman, recently stated that the infrastructure and design of OpenAI will need to be rethought.
Although the details of Microsoft's venture are still unclear, the company's hardware venture could mark a significant shift in how machine learning chips are developed and utilized. This could help Microsoft become a significant player in the industry and create more opportunities for businesses that rely on AI technology.
