Amazon Web Services (AMZN.O), the world’s largest cloud computing provider, is considering using new artificial intelligence chips from Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O), though it has not made a final decision, an AWS executive told Reuters.
The remarks came during an AMD event where the chip company outlined its strategy for the AI market, which is dominated by rival Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O).
AMD shares rose 1.7% in premarket trading following the news. They closed 3.6% lower on Tuesday after AMD did not disclose a flagship customer for an AI chip coming later this year.
In interviews with Reuters, AMD Chief Executive Lisa Su outlined a strategy for gaining major cloud computing customers by providing a menu of all the pieces required to build the kinds of systems needed to power services similar to ChatGPT, but allowing customers to pick and choose which ones they want, using industry standard connections.
“We’re wagering that a lot of people will desire options and the opportunity to tailor what they need in their data centre,” Su said.
- Amazon has received key FCC approval for the deployment of its Project Kuiper broadband satellites.
- Protesters hit Amazon buildings on Black Friday
While AWS has not publicly committed to using AMD’s new MI300 chips in its cloud services, David Brown, vice president of elastic computing cloud at Amazon, has stated that AWS is exploring them.
“We’re still working together on where exactly that will land between AWS and AMD, but it’s something that our teams are working together on,” Brown said. “That’s where we’ve benefited from some of the work that they’ve done around the design that plugs into existing systems.”
Nvidia does sell its chips piecemeal but is also asking cloud providers if they are willing to offer an entire system designed by Nvidia in a product called DGX Cloud. Oracle Corp (ORCL.N) is Nvidia’s first partner for that system.
Brown said AWS had declined to work with Nvidia on the DGX Cloud offering.
“They approached us, we looked at the business model, and it didn’t make a lot of sense” for AWS due to the company’s long experience in building reliable servers and existing supply chain expertise, Brown said.
Brown said that AWS prefers to design its own servers from the ground up. AWS started selling Nvidia’s H100 chip in March, but as part of systems of its own design.
