Texas at heart of Amazon’s AI push in United States

Amazon is powering artificial intelligence with custom Trainium chips designed especially for maching learning - Copyright AFP Mark Felix Amazon is powering artificial intelligence with custom Trainium chips designed especially for maching learning - Copyright AFP Mark FelixMoisés ÁVILATech titan Amazon is working to step out of Nvidia’s shadow with custom “Trainium” chips designed specially for machine learning as billions of dollars are poured into artificial intelligence (AI). Amazon subsidiary Annapurna Labs in Austin, Texas, was testing the longevity of its latest generation Trainium during a recent visit by AFP to the facility. Texas is emerging as a US tech world El Dorado, luring investments with cheap energy, relaxed regulations, tax incentives and reasonably affordable real estate for massive data centers. Amidst a deafening roar, UltraServers packed with 144 of the Trainium AI-accelerator chips were being put through their paces at Annapurna in a routine check prior to delivery. After years of relying on suppliers for chips, the e-commerce powerhouse’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing unit began designing its own, acquiring Israeli startup Annapurna Labs in 2015. First came Graviton and Inferentia chips in 2018, the former for general cloud computing and the latter for powering AI models. The first Trainium debuted in 2020, followed by a second generation that touted a big boost in performance. Trainium 3 chips put into action in December are touted as ...