Microsoft announce collaboration to AI with NVIDIA after previously trying to reduce reliance

Microsoft and NVIDIA announced an expansion of their ongoing partnership at the GTC conference on March 18, 2024. This collaboration focuses on integrating AI technologies within the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. This comes after Microsoft announced they were trying to reduce their reliance on NVIDIA.

• A central aspect of the partnership involves incorporating the recently unveiled NVIDIA Grace Blackwell super chip into the Microsoft Azure infrastructure. This superchip has the NVIDIA GB200 architecture, which can add Azure with the latest advancements in AI processing power.
• Moreover, Microsoft Fabric will be tightly ‘knitted’ with NVIDIA DGX Cloud, a cloud-based platform for training and deploying AI models. This integration can simplify the process for businesses to use their own data to build customized AI solutions.
• The announcement also places a strong emphasis on GenAI. Microsoft Azure will be the first platform to offer NVIDIA Omniverse Cloud APIs. These APIs are designed for developers to create applications with capabilities in data interoperability, collaboration, and physics-based visualization. 
• Microsoft Copilot will receive an upgrade through the integration of NVIDIA AI technologies. This integration can provide users with even more sophisticated contextualized intelligence.
• Microsoft Azure AI will be further supported by new NVIDIA generative AI microservices. These microservices can accelerate the deployment of AI solutions in various sectors, including healthcare.

“Together with NVIDIA, we are making the promise of AI real, helping drive new benefits and productivity gains for people and organizations everywhere.”

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s Chairman and CEO, highlighted the significance of this collaboration.

More here.