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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Aisha Down and Ed Zitron

Are Microsoft’s AI plans being held back by a shortage of chips?

A Microsoft data center in Middenmeer with tall metal exhaust pipes under a stormy sky
A Microsoft datacentre in the North Holland village of Middenmeer in the Netherlands. Photograph: Ramon van Flymen/EPA

The chips are quite small and some can be held in the palm of a hand. They are fundamental to the development of artificial intelligence models – and the world’s biggest technology companies need vast numbers of them to keep ahead.

Microsoft is one of them. And, on paper, it seems to have a problem. A Guardian investigation has found an apparent discrepancy between what the company has said about its AI capacity – and the number of advanced AI chips it has in operation.

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