Microsoft sends a new kind of AI processor into the cloud

Microsoft rose to dominance during the '80s and '90s thanks to the success of its Windows operating system running on Intel's processors, a cosy relationship nicknamed "Wintel". Now Microsoft hopes that another another hardware–software combo will help it recapture that success--and catch rivals Amazon and Google in the race to provide cutting-edge artificial intelligence through the cloud. Microsoft hopes to extend the popularity of its Azure cloud platform with a new kind of computer chip designed for the age of AI. Starting today, Microsoft is providing Azure customers with access to chips made by the British startup Graphcore. Graphcore, founded in Bristol, UK, in 2016, has attracted considerable attention among AI researchers--and several hundred million dollars in investment--on the promise that its chips will accelerate the computations required to make AI work.