Amazon Attracts AI Researchers with $110M in Grants and Credits
Google, Microsoft, and AWS are fiercely competing in the AI chip battle, each aiming to dominate the market by introducing cutting-edge technologies and funding programs specifically designed for AI research.
Cloud Providers Kick Off AI Chip Battle
Cloud giants Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are gearing up for a fierce battle to dominate the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market. Google has recently introduced a custom chip called Trillium in beta, designed for training and running AI models. Microsoft is expected to enter the fray with its own AI chip, Maia.
Amazon Web Services: New Sponsors of AI Research
AWS is not falling behind, offering its own range of AI chips including Trainium, Inferentia, and Graviton. The tech giant is rolling out a new grant program focused on Trainium for AI research, named “Build on Trainium.” This initiative plans to distribute a total of $110 million to institutions, scientists, and students engaged in AI research.
Funding and Ethical Implications
However, this philanthropic gesture has also drawn criticism. Some analysts see it as more of an attempt to steer research tasks towards commercially viable projects than a genuine effort to support the scientific community. “It looks like a broad attempt to corrupt academic research funding,” states Os Keyes, a PhD candidate at the University of Washington studying the ethical impact of emerging technologies.
Widening the Gap Between Academic and Industrial AI
Given the opacity of AWS’s project selection process for the “Build on Trainium” grants, questions arise whether it will truly help bridge the gap between academia and the AI industry. Notably, over 90% of significant AI models developed annually come from the industry. With “Build on Trainium,” can AWS attract researchers to its platform while ensuring fairness in research opportunities? The company has promised that grant recipients will not be “locked” into the AWS or Trainium ecosystem.
Ultimately, only time and tangible outcomes of this program will tell whether it genuinely serves the interests of AI research or those of the corporations involved.