Kind of embarrassing for Google to be on that list, no? Shouldn't their in-house...

bayindirh · 2024-08-31T21:56:27 1725141387

No, because GPUs are not only for AI. They are MATMUL machines, and MATMUL is useful way beyond AI and tensor applications.

Some of us use them at double precision mode.

lolinder · 2024-08-31T23:02:41 1725145361

Yes, but demand for these chips went through the roof because of AI. If Google is on this list it's because they're using them for AI, not because they've got a secret project rendering an insane number of 3D images or something.

bayindirh · 2024-09-01T10:30:06 1725186606

Everything from material simulation to weather forecasts use GPUs very actively and effectively, for a long time.

There’s a whole world using GPUs to accelerate things.

lolinder · 2024-09-01T11:57:17 1725191837

Right, I'm not arguing against that.

I'm saying that Meta and Amazon and Microsoft are all buying these chips in insane numbers for AI—their usage for all other types of GPU activity is at least an order of magnitude less. That's why Nvidia skyrocketed to become the most valuable company over just a few years.

For Google to be on that short list of whales would either mean that they for some reason have a much larger demand for GPUs for non-AI purposes than any of the others have for AI purposes (doubtful) or that they're using GPUs for AI.

nomad_horse · 2024-08-31T22:05:15 1725141915

Those are likely for Cloud, used by clients.

dagmx · 2024-09-01T03:47:31 1725162451

Google has addressed this. They offer GCP as an AWs alternate.

They’d rather offer their clients what they need than push them on to their own products.

thereisnospork · 2024-09-01T05:03:14 1725166994

I understand why the state of affairs is, the point is that it's pathetic. Google, an AI hardware manufacturer[0], has to eat a direct competitors not in substantial margins in order to offer their customers, external and internal, a viable product.

[0]and supposed software powerhouse.

dagmx · 2024-09-01T06:02:09 1725170529

Microsoft has Linux on Azure.

Amazon doesn’t force everyone onto graviton cores, and offers competing cores.

It’s just the nature of business.