The New York Times reported on June 5th that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have reached an agreement, led by senior officials of both agencies, over the past week. The DOJ will investigate whether NVIDIA has violated antitrust laws, while the FTC will examine the conducts of OpenAI and Microsoft.

Reportedly, Jonathan Kanter, who is said to be the top antitrust official in the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, highlighted at an AI conference at Stanford University last week that AI’s reliance on massive amounts of data and computing power gives dominant companies a significant advantage. In a February interview, FTC Chair Lina Khan stated that the FTC aims to identify potential issues in the early stages of AI development.

As per Reuters’ report, Microsoft, OpenAI, NVIDIA, DOJ and FTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.

In a May interview with CNBC, Appian co-founder and CEO Matt Calkins stated that AI might not be a winner take all market. He suggested that if alliances could secure victory in the AI race, Google would already have won.

Per a report from Roll Call on May 15th, a bipartisan Senate AI working group led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released an AI roadmap, calling for the federal government to invest at least USD 32 billion annually in non-defense-related AI systems.

In March, The Information reported that Microsoft does not want its hiring of Inflection AI’s two co-founders and the majority of its 70-member team to be perceived as an acquisition.

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(Photo credit: NVIDIA)

On May 20, a report by Reuters revealed that Google plans to invest an additional Euro 1 billion in its data center park in Finland. This move aims to expand the scale and boost its AI business growth in Europe.

The report notes that in recent years, many data centers have been established in Nordic countries due to the cool climate, tax incentives, and ample supply of renewable energy. Finland’s wind power capacity has seen significant growth over these years, up by 75% to 5,677 megawatts by 2022, which brings electricity prices even down to negative values on particularly windy days.

Thus, Data center operators like Google have been taken advantage of this renewable energy, and already signed long-term wind power purchase agreements in Finland.

Driven by the AI wave, cloud providers such as Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon have an increasingly robust demand for AI servers and data centers.

According to a previous forecast by TrendForce, considering the global CSPs’ demands for high-end AI servers (Those equipped with NVIDIA, AMD, or other high-end ASIC chips included) in 2024, the demands from four major U.S. CSPs: Microsoft, Google, AWS, and Meta are expected to account for 20.2%, 16.6%, 16%, and 10.8% of global demand respectively, reigning over the global market with a total proportion of more than 60%.

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• [Insights] Big Four CSPs Continue to Shine in Q1 2024 Financial Reports, AI Returns Garnering Attention

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As a strategic technology empowering a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, AI has become one of the key driving forces for the development of new industrialization. Fueled by the ChatGPT craze, AI and its applications are rapidly gaining traction worldwide. From an industrial perspective, NVIDIA currently holds almost absolute dominance in the AI chip market.

Meanwhile, major tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Apple are actively joining the competition, scrambling to seize the opportunity. Meta, Google, Intel, and Apple have launched the latest AI chips in hopes of reducing reliance on companies like NVIDIA. Microsoft and Samsung have also reportedly made investment plans for AI development.

• Microsoft Announced an Investment Plan of over USD 11 Billion

Recently, according to multiple global media reports, Microsoft is developing a new AI mega-model called MAI-1. This model far exceeds some of Microsoft’s previously released open-source models in scale and is expected to rival well-known large models like Google’s Gemini 1.5, Anthropic’s Claude 3, and OpenAI’s GPT-4 in terms of performance. Reports suggest that Microsoft may demonstrate MAI-1 at the upcoming Build developer conference.

In response to the growing demand for AI computing, Microsoft recently announced a plan to invest billions of dollars in building AI infrastructure in Wisconsin. Microsoft stated that this move will create 2,300 construction jobs, and could contribute to up to 2,000 data center jobs when completing construction.

Furthermore, Microsoft will establish a new AI lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to provide AI technology training.

Microsoft’s investment plan in the US involves an amount of USD 3.3 billion, which plus its investments previously announced in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand amount to over USD 11 billion in reference to AI-related field.

Microsoft’s recent announcements shows that it plans to invest USD 2.9 billion over the next two years to enhance its cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Japan, USD 1.7 billion within the next four years to expand cloud services and AI in Indonesia, including building data centers, USD 2.2 billion over the next four years in Malaysia in cloud computing and AI, and USD 1 billion to set up the first data center in Thailand, dedicated to providing AI skills training for over 100,000 people.

• Apple Reportedly Developing in-House AI Chip for Data Center

Apple has also unveiled its first AI chip, M4. Apple introduced that the neural engine in M4 chip is the most powerful one the company has ever developed, outstripping any neural processing unit in current AI PCs. Apple further emphasized that it will “break new ground” in generative AI this year, bringing transformative opportunities to users.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple has been working on its own chips designed to run AI software on data center servers. Sources cited in the report revealed that the internal codename for the server chip project is ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center). The report indicates that the ACDC project has been underway for several years, but it’s currently uncertain whether this new chip will be commissioned and when it might hit the market.

Tech journalist Mark Gurman also suggests that Apple will introduce AI capabilities in the cloud this year using its proprietary chips. Gurman’s sources indicate that Apple intends to deploy high-end chips (Similar to those designed for Mac) in cloud computing servers to handle cutting-edge AI tasks on Apple devices. Simpler AI-related functions will continue to be processed directly by chips embedded in iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices.

• Samsung might Start Pilot production for AI Inference Chip Mach-1

As per industry sources cited by South Korean media outlet ZDNet Korea, Samsung Electronics’ AI inference chip, Mach-1, is set to begin prototype production using a multi-project wafer (MPW) approach and is expected to be based on Samsung’s in-house 4nm process.

Previously at a shareholder meeting, Samsung revealed its plan to launch a self-made AI accelerator chip, Mach-1, in early 2025. As a critical step in Samsung’s AI development strategy, Mach-1 chip is an AI inference accelerator built on application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design and equipped with LPDDR memory, making it particularly suitable for edge computing applications.

Kyung Kye-hyun, head of Samsung Electronics’ DS (Semiconductor) division, stated that the development goal of this chip is to reduce the data bottleneck between off-chip memory and computing chips to 1/8 through algorithms, while also achieving an eight-fold improvement in efficiency. He noted that Mach-1 chip design has gained the verification of field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology and is currently in the physical implementation stage of system-on-chip (SoC), which is expected to be ready in late 2024, with a Mach-1 chip-driven AI system to be launched in early 2025.

In addition to developing AI chip Mach-1, Samsung has established a dedicated research lab in Silicon Valley focusing on general artificial intelligence (AGI) research. The intention is to develop new processors and memory technologies capable of meeting future AGI system processing requirements.

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• [News] Microsoft to Build AI Data Center at Former Foxconn Planned Panel Plant Site in Wisconsin
• [News] Apple Allegedly Developing AI Processor for Data Centers, with TSMC as Its Foundry Partner

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Microsoft President Brad Smith announced the investment of USD 3.3 billion to construct an artificial intelligence data center in Wisconsin, aiming to make the state a core driver of the innovation economy. Notably, the site of the facility was originally intended for a LCD panel plant promised by Foxconn six years ago.

According to Microsoft’s press release, the AI data center in Wisconsin is expected to create 2,300 union construction opportunities by 2025 and will provide long-term employment opportunities over the next several years.

Microsoft’s press release highlights that this investment will be utilized for constructing cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure, establishing the first AI co-innovation lab in the United States focused on the manufacturing industry, and promoting AI training programs with the goal of enabling over 100,000 Wisconsin residents to acquire necessary AI skills.

The press release also notes that Microsoft will collaborate with Gateway Technical College to establish a Data Center Academy, aiming to train more than 1,000 students within five years, equipping them to enter roles in data centers or information technology departments.

Microsoft’s new facility in Racine County, Wisconsin, was originally intended to be the site of a LCD panel plant planned by Foxconn, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (Foxconn Group), according to a report by CNA.

In June 2018, then-chairman of Foxconn, Terry Gou, and then-US President Donald Trump attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the panel plant. Foxocnn announced an investment of USD 10 billion, and Trump described the project as the “8th wonder of the world.”

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• [News] Microsoft Reportedly Stockpiling AI Chips to Boost Hardware Capability
• [News] Breaking Away from NVIDIA Dependency, Microsoft Reportedly Developing In-House AI Server High-Speed Network Card

(Photo credit: iStock)

With the skyrocketing demand for AI, cloud service providers (CSPs) are hastening the development of in-house chips. Apple, making a surprising move, is actively developing a data center-grade chip codenamed “Project ACDC,” signaling its foray into the realm of AI accelerators for servers.

As per a report from global media The Wall Street Journal, Apple is developing an AI accelerator chip for data center servers under the project name “Project ACDC.” Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Apple is closely collaborating with TSMC, but the timing of the new chip’s release remains uncertain.

Industry sources cited by the same report from Commercial Times disclosed that Apple’s AI accelerator chip will be developed using TSMC’s 3-nanometer process. Servers equipped with this chip are expected to debut next year, further enhancing the performance of its data centers and future cloud-based AI tools.

Industry sources cited in Commercial Times‘ report reveal that cloud service providers (CSPs) frequently choose TSMC’s 5 and 7-nanometer processes for their in-house chip development, capitalizing on TSMC’s mature advanced processes to enhance profit margins. Additionally, the same report also highlights that major industry players including Microsoft, AWS, Google, Meta, and Apple rely on TSMC’s advanced processes and packaging, which significantly contributes to the company’s performance.

Apple has consistently been an early adopter of TSMC’s most advanced processes, relying on their stability and technological leadership. Apple’s adoption of the 3-nanometer process and CoWoS advanced packaging next year is deemed the most reasonable solution, which will also help boost TSMC’s 3-nanometer production capacity utilization.

Generative AI models are rapidly evolving, enabling businesses and developers to address complex problems and discover new opportunities. However, large-scale models with billions or even trillions of parameters pose more stringent requirements for training, tuning, and inference.

Per Commercial Times citing industry sources, it has noted that Apple’s entry into the in-house chip arena comes as no surprise, given that giants like Google and Microsoft have long been deploying in-house chips and have successively launched iterative products.

In April, Google unveiled its next-generation AI accelerator, TPU v5p, aimed at accelerating cloud-based tasks and enhancing the efficiency of online services such as search, YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Play Store. It also aims to improve execution efficiency by integrating cloud computing with Android devices, thereby enhancing user experience.

At the end of last year, AWS introduced two in-house chips, Graviton4 and Trainium2, to strengthen energy efficiency and computational performance to meet various innovative applications of generative AI.

Microsoft also introduced the Maia chip, designed for processing OpenAI models, Bing, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, and other AI services.

Meta, on the other hand, completed its second-generation in-house chip, MTIA, designed for tasks related to AI recommendation systems, such as content ranking and recommendations on Facebook and Instagram.

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• [News] Breaking Away from NVIDIA Dependency, Microsoft Reportedly Developing In-House AI Server High-Speed Network Card
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(Photo credit: Apple)