Google's "Most Powerful Chip Yet"? Yeah, Right.
So, Google's at it again, huh? Announcing their "most powerful chip yet," the Ironwood TPU. All this while acting like it's going to dethrone Nvidia. Give me a break.
Let's be real: this is about survival. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta—they're all scrambling to not get left in the dust of this AI gold rush. And right now, Nvidia is selling the shovels, picks, and donkey feed.
The "Custom Silicon" Mirage
They're touting "custom silicon" as some kind of advantage. As if Nvidia's GPUs are just off-the-shelf garbage. Newsflash: Nvidia's dominating because their GPUs work. They're optimized for AI workloads. Saying Google's TPUs offer advantages in "price, performance, and efficiency" is PR-speak for "we're trying to catch up, and maybe, just maybe, we can undercut them on price."
And this Ironwood TPU? Four times faster than the last one, they claim. Okay, great. But how does it actually stack up against Nvidia's latest? They won't tell you that, offcourse. Because if they did, it probably wouldn't sound so impressive. Google's rolling out its most powerful AI chip, taking aim at Nvidia with custom silicon
Speaking of impressive, a million TPUs for Anthropic? Sounds like a big number, right? But how much of that is real demand and how much is Google just subsidizing their own investment? I mean, Google invested in Anthropic. It's like me "selling" my old lawnmower to myself for a thousand bucks and calling it a booming business.
The Cloud Wars Heat Up (But Who's Really Winning?)
Google Cloud revenue up 34%. Azure up 40%. AWS up 20%. Sounds good for everyone, right? Except, let's dig a little deeper. Google had to up their capital spending forecast to $93 billion! That's a whole lotta money just to try and keep pace. It's like they're burning cash just to stay in the race.
And Pichai saying they're seeing "substantial demand" for their AI infrastructure? Of course he is. He's the CEO. What else is he going to say? "Yeah, our TPUs are kinda meh, and everyone's still buying Nvidia"? Let's be real.
I wonder, though: with all this investment, are they actually making any profit on these cloud deals? Or are they just buying market share, hoping to figure out the profit part later?
Honestly, all this talk about AI chips and cloud deals just reminds me of my neighbor's dog. Barking constantly, running around in circles, chasing its tail. Lots of noise, lots of energy, but not a whole lot of actual progress.
The Unanswered Questions
So, what happens if Nvidia releases an even better GPU next year? Does Google have to start from scratch again? And what about AMD? They're supposedly in the game too, but honestly, they're barely a blip on the radar screen at this point.
And what about the long-term implications of all this AI infrastructure building? Are we creating a future where only a handful of mega-corporations control the entire AI landscape? I mean, it's not like Google's known for sharing power.
Maybe I'm just being cynical. Maybe Ironwood really is a game-changer. But color me skeptical.
Another Day, Another Hype Cycle
Honestly, this whole thing feels like a carefully orchestrated PR campaign designed to boost Google stock and scare Nvidia stock investors a little. But at the end of the day... does any of this really matter to the average person? Probably not.
