Custom Silicon in Public Cloud Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are Driving Innovation in Chip Design

Innovative Technologies and New Demand are Pushing Cloud Leaders to Design their Own Custom Chips

The demand for chips has experienced exponential growth in recent decades. Presently, the importance of these key hardware components is even higher due to increasing workload demands from innovations like generative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), which are also driving up energy consumption and costs.

However, pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions and shortages have laid bare the industry's vulnerability in addressing these challenges, risking global economic paralysis. Recognizing the unsustainability of relying solely on CPU-based computing and off-the-shelf hardware, major technology companies are now designing their own chips to gain control over critical components, reduce expenses, and expand their services to earn competitive advantages. Custom chips offer differentiation and unique features - although at high initial costs, they promise long-term savings by eliminating reliance on external suppliers and optimizing workloads.

This study explores the evolution of the chip industry as a whole, the global context of chip production and demand, and how technology hyperscalers, especially cloud computing service providers, are addressing the design and manufacturing of custom chips to meet the specific needs of their clients, particularly those related to AI and ML.