Microsoft is making artificial intelligence (AI)-based services its top priority, alongside examples like chatbot Bing Chat and Office apps-themed Microsoft 365 Copilot. And in a related development, Microsoft is said to have developed its own hardware chip specifically designed for AI programs and has been working on it for four years.
Microsoft uses the codename Athena internally and has been working on the chip with 300 specially appointed employees since 2019, The Information reports, citing two anonymous sources. The news adds that the chip is currently being tested with some Microsoft employees and some employees from OpenAI, who created ChatGPT, which Microsoft uses to help develop Bing Chat.
Currently, Microsoft uses chips produced by NVIDIA for its AI services. However, it wants to develop its own in-house processor to reach a chip that will both work better for its needs and cost less. In line with this purpose, it is planned that Athena will become flesh and bone in 2024.
Building custom chips in-house for servers and other cloud-based systems is nothing new in the tech industry. For example, Amazon, Google, and Facebook have also designed their own server processors for use in data centers. It is not yet clear whether Microsoft will continue to use NVIDIA chips for its AI-based centers alongside its own chips.
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