Google's 'Ironwood' TPU aims squarely at the high cost of inference

During its Google Cloud Next 25 event Wednesday, the search giant unveiled the latest version of its Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), the custom chip built to run artificial intelligence--with a twist. For the first time, Google is positioning the chip for inference, the making of predictions for live requests to millions or even billions of users, as opposed to training, the development of neural networks carried out by teams of AI specialists and data scientists. The Ironwood TPU, as the new chip is called, arrives at an economic inflection point in AI. The industry clearly expects AI moving forward to be less about science projects and more about the actual use of AI models by companies. And the rise of DeepSeek AI has focused Wall Street more than ever on the enormous cost of building AI for Google and its competitors.