Microsoft provides AMD processors as an alternative to Nvidia AI ones for cloud users

Microsoft will sell clusters of the company's flagship MI300X AI processors from Advanced Micro Devices via its Azure cloud computing service.

Microsoft said on Thursday that it would provide its cloud computing clients with an AMD artificial intelligence processor platform that will rival Nvidia components. Further information will be provided at Microsoft's Build developer conference the following week.

During the conference, a sneak peek of the upcoming Cobalt 100 custom CPUs will also be unveiled.

Microsoft will sell clusters of the company's flagship MI300X AI processors from Advanced Micro Devices via its Azure cloud computing service. Customers will have an option to Nvidia's powerful H100 series of graphics processing units (GPUs), which are in great demand and dominate the data center semiconductor market for AI.

Because the data and processing cannot fit on a single chip, businesses usually need to connect together - or cluster - numerous GPUs in order to execute apps or construct AI models.

AMD has said that the processors are strong enough to operate and train massive AI models, and the company anticipates $4 billion in sales from AI chips this year.

In addition to Nvidia's premium AI processors, Microsoft's cloud computing division offers access to Maia, an own AI chip developed in-house.

Separately, the business said that the Cobalt 100 CPUs, which Microsoft intends to demonstrate next week, perform 40% better than rival processors built using technology from Arm Holdings. Snowflake has started using them, along with others.

Announced in November, the Cobalt chips are being tested to power Teams, Microsoft's workplace communications service, and are positioned to rival Amazon.com's in-house Graviton CPUs.