EXCLUSIVE: Microsoft's custom Cobalt chips will come to Azure next week

Microsoft is set to launch its custom Cobalt 100 chips at the Build conference next week, offering a 40% performance improvement over other ARM chips. These chips, based on the Arm architecture with 128 cores, have already been adopted by companies like Adobe and Snowflake.

Additionally, Microsoft will introduce AMD’s MI300X accelerators to Azure, positioning them as a cost-effective alternative to Nvidia’s offerings in the AI space. The company will also announce new pricing for large language models and a partnership with Snowflake to enhance data interoperability within its Fabric data analytics system.