AMD and Nvidia could soon get another major cloud chip challenger

servers
(Image credit: Shutterstock.com / Gorodenkoff)

Google has made further progress in its move to create custom chips that can help ramp up its cloud computing infrastructure by hiring a former Intel veteran to head up the new division.

Google has a long history of building its own chips, to boost the performance of the technology to meet its demands, whether it be the Tensor Processing Units in 2015, or the Video Processing Units in 2018, or the security-centric OpenTitan in 2019.

“The future of cloud infrastructure is bright, and it’s changing fast. As we continue to work to meet computing demands from around the world, today we are thrilled to welcome Uri Frank as our VP of Engineering for server chip design,” wrote Google Fellow and VP of systems infrastructure Amin Vahdat, in a blog post.

System on a chip

In addition to announcing Frank’s arrival, Vahdat also shared details about Google’s plans to tackle the demand for the increasing cloud workloads.

He argues that while they’ve been focused on putting together computing components on the motherboard into an optimized system, this approach was no longer feasible. 

“Instead of integrating components on a motherboard where they are separated by inches of wires, we are turning to Systems on Chip (SoC) designs where multiple functions sit on the same chip, or on multiple chips inside one package,” shared Vahdat.

Frank will head Google’s efforts into the SoC realm which they argue will help them achieve the levels of latency and bandwidth that are required to efficiently tackle the workloads of the day, while at the same time reduce power requirements and running costs.

Although Google hasn’t shared any further details about its SoC plans, we can assume it’ll probably license one from Arm, which might be interesting as it is one of the big tech companies that are protesting against Arm’s acquisition by Nvidia. 

Via: TechCrunch

Mayank Sharma

With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’s TechRadar Pro’s expert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.

Read more
Qualcomm
Qualcomm poaches Xeon chief architect to compete better with AMD and Intel in AI data center CPU market
Sam Altman and OpenAI
Nvidia, look away! OpenAI is almost ready to deliver first prototype of its AI GPU - General Processing Unit
Trillium TPU
You can now rent Google's most powerful AI chip: Trillium TPU underpins Gemini 2.0 and will put AMD and Nvidia on high alert
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
Nvidia is preparing for the post-GPU AI era as it is reportedly recruits ASIC engineers to fend off competition from Broadcom and Marvell
broadcom
Trillion-dollar tech company emerges as key partner to help Google, Meta and other hyperscalers build an Nvidia-free AI future
Concept image of Arm chip
The only way is stack! Arm wants to build its own CPU server for hyperscalers, reports say, and AMD won't be happy
Latest in Pro
Protection from AI hacker attacks
Maintaining SAP’s confidentiality, integrity, and availability triad
A trough sensor at Overbury farm
“It's wildlife working for you” - how Agri-Tech can help revolutionize British farming as we know it
Epson EcoTank ET-4850 next to a TechRadar badge that reads Big Savings
I found the best printer deal you won't see in the Amazon Spring Sale and it's got a massive $150 saving
NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition
Nvidia's most expensive Blackwell card gets massive price cut but it is not the RTX 5090
Microsoft Copiot Studio deep reasoning and agent flows
Microsoft reveals OpenAI-powered Copilot AI agents to bosot your work research and data analysis
Group of people meeting
Inflexible work policies are pushing tech workers to quit
Latest in News
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin Rennovations
Disney’s giving a classic Buzz Lightyear ride a tech overhaul – here's everything you need to know
Hisense U8 series TV on wall in living room
Hisense announces 2025 mini-LED TV lineup, with screen sizes up to 100 inches – and a surprising smart TV switch
Nintendo Music teaser art
Nintendo Music expands its library with songs from Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Tetris
Opera AI Tabs
Opera's new AI feature brings order to your browser tab chaos
An image of Pro-Ject's Flatten it closed and opened
Pro-Ject’s new vinyl flattener will fix any warped LPs you inadvertently buy on Record Store Day
The iPhone 16 Pro on a grey background
iPhone 17 Pro tipped to get 8K video recording – but I want these 3 video features instead