AMD Sees EPYC CPUs and Instinct GPUs Driving AI Progress Forward

The Cloud: A Playground for AI Innovation

If you’re on the hunt for uses of AI technology, look no further than the cloud. A recent report from Gartner reveals that a whopping 73% of CIOs and tech executives are ramping up their funding for AI in 2024. Meanwhile, IDC forecasts that AI will generate a staggering $19.9 trillion in global economic impact by 2030. But here’s the kicker: most of these AI workloads aren’t being handled on local machines. Instead, companies are leaning on cloud service providers to deliver the infrastructure they need.

This trend makes perfect sense, especially since over 90% of businesses are already utilizing public cloud services. And it’s not just a few workloads being shifted; there’s been a jaw-dropping 175% increase in interest in cloud-native solutions. Companies are going all in, and that’s creating a surge in demand for robust infrastructure to support their AI ambitions.

Scaling Up: The Cloud’s Growing Pains

As organizations scramble for the capacity to handle their AI initiatives, cloud service providers are racing to expand their data centers. IDC projects that the demand for AI workloads will lead to a significant uptick in datacenter capacity, energy consumption, and yes, even carbon emissions. The forecast? A compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40.5% for AI datacenter capacity through 2027.

While this surge opens up exciting opportunities for cloud providers, it also comes with its fair share of challenges. Delivering the necessary computing power to support AI at scale—while keeping things reliable and cost-effective—is no small feat. Many providers have turned to AMD EPYC CPUs and Instinct GPUs to tackle these hurdles. Let’s take a closer look at how three major players are leveraging AMD technology to accelerate their AI capabilities.

Microsoft Azure: Flexibility Meets Cost-Effectiveness

Microsoft is making waves with its extensive lineup of AMD-powered Azure Virtual Machines (VMs). These VMs are tailored for a variety of use cases, from general-purpose tasks to memory-intensive applications, and even high-performance computing. Customers are buzzing about the cost-effectiveness of these products.

Take Henrik Klemola, Director of Cloud COE at Epicor, for example. He shares, “We’ve been using Azure Virtual Machines featuring the AMD EPYC processor for the past two years to run critical applications. The performance and price-performance ratio have been impressive. We’re excited to see what innovations Microsoft Azure will continue to roll out, especially with the latest AMD EPYC processors.”

What’s particularly exciting is that Microsoft is rolling out accelerators designed for AI and other demanding workloads—think financial analysis and engineering applications. Traditional CPU-only VMs often struggle under the weight of these tasks, leading to frustration and lost productivity. By making AMD’s latest advancements available in the cloud, Microsoft is ensuring customers get the performance they need without breaking the bank.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure: Scaling for the Future

Another heavyweight in the cloud arena, Oracle, is also harnessing AMD technology to push the boundaries of AI. In September, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) launched its newest OCI Compute Supercluster instance, powered by AMD Instinct accelerators. These instances are designed to tackle the most demanding AI workloads—think generative AI, computer vision, and predictive analytics.

This scalability has caught the eye of companies like Uber, which began migrating to OCI Compute with AMD infrastructure in 2023. Kamran Zargahi, Senior Director of Tech Strategy and Cloud Engineering at Uber, says, “As we expand and explore new markets, we need the flexibility to utilize a wide range of cloud services. Collaborating with Oracle has allowed us to innovate faster while managing our infrastructure costs.” With OCI, Uber can leverage top-tier infrastructure that supports multi-cloud environments, paving the way for sustainable growth.

Meta: Deep Learning Meets Open Hardware

Meta is also making significant investments in cloud data centers to enhance the AI services it offers to over three billion daily users of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The company is racing to integrate generative AI across its services, and it’s heavily banking on AMD technology to do so.

In fact, Meta has deployed over 1.5 million AMD EPYC CPUs across its global servers, along with AMD Instinct GPUs. Kevin Salvadori, VP of Infrastructure and Engineering at Meta, explains, “All Meta live traffic has been served using MI300X due to its large memory capacity and total cost of ownership advantage.”

Moreover, AMD chips are central to Meta’s vision of open hardware. The company emphasizes that scaling AI rapidly requires open solutions that foster innovation. By investing in open hardware, Meta believes it can unlock the full potential of AI and drive ongoing advancements in the field. Their next-gen platform, Grand Teton, is designed to support AMD Instinct MI300X, enabling it to run deep learning models and other memory-intensive workloads effectively.

Unlocking AI’s Full Potential

If your team is eager to explore the frontiers of AI innovation, consider diving into an AMD Instinct-based cloud instance from one of the major public cloud vendors. Alternatively, you could integrate AMD Instinct GPUs into your own infrastructure. They offer the performance, low total cost of ownership, and ease of adoption that can supercharge your AI initiatives. The future is bright for those willing to embrace these technologies!

Background Information

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About AMD:

AMD, a large player in the semiconductor industry is known for its powerful processors and graphic solutions, AMD has consistently pushed the boundaries of performance, efficiency, and user experience. With a customer-centric approach, the company has cultivated a reputation for delivering high-performance solutions that cater to the needs of gamers, professionals, and general users. AMD's Ryzen series of processors have redefined the landscape of desktop and laptop computing, offering impressive multi-core performance and competitive pricing that has challenged the dominance of its competitors. Complementing its processor expertise, AMD's Radeon graphics cards have also earned accolades for their efficiency and exceptional graphical capabilities, making them a favored choice among gamers and content creators. The company's commitment to innovation and technology continues to shape the client computing landscape, providing users with powerful tools to fuel their digital endeavors.

  

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About IDC:

IDC, or International Data Corporation, is a global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. Established in 1964, IDC offers valuable insights into industry trends, market forecasts, and technology adoption through its research and analysis. Their expertise aids businesses, governments, and IT professionals in making informed decisions and strategies.

  

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About Microsoft:

Microsoft, founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 in Redmond, Washington, USA, is a technology giant known for its wide range of software products, including the Windows operating system, Office productivity suite, and cloud services like Azure. Microsoft also manufactures hardware, such as the Surface line of laptops and tablets, Xbox gaming consoles, and accessories.

  

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About Oracle:

Oracle Corporation is a important American multinational technology company founded in 1977 and headquartered in Redwood City, California. It's one of the world's largest software and cloud computing companies, known for its enterprise software products and services. Oracle specializes in developing and providing database management systems, cloud solutions, software applications, and hardware infrastructure. Their flagship product, the Oracle Database, is widely used in businesses and organizations worldwide. Oracle also offers a range of cloud services, including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).

  

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Technology Explained

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CPU: The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the brain of a computer, responsible for executing instructions and performing calculations. It is the most important component of a computer system, as it is responsible for controlling all other components. CPUs are used in a wide range of applications, from desktop computers to mobile devices, gaming consoles, and even supercomputers. CPUs are used to process data, execute instructions, and control the flow of information within a computer system. They are also used to control the input and output of data, as well as to store and retrieve data from memory. CPUs are essential for the functioning of any computer system, and their applications in the computer industry are vast.

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EPYC: EPYC is a technology designed by computer chip manufacturer AMD for use in the server and data center industry. It was introduced in June 2017 and features an innovative design to improve performance and power efficiency. EPYC processor technology is based on an innovative 14nm processor architecture, allowing up to 32 high-performance cores in a single socket. This allows for more efficient processing power, increased memory bandwidth, and greater compute density. EPYC is now widely used in the data center and cloud computing industry and provides benefits such as greater scalability, increased resource efficiency, and advanced virtualization capabilities. Additionally, EPYC technology is used in data intensive servers like server farms, gaming, and virtualization platforms. EPYC ensures that even with large deployments in multi-processor environments, power consumption and performance levels are optimized to ensure maximum efficiency.

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