zlacker

>>mdp202+(OP)
Amazon's secret weapon is Amazon's own use of chips, if your idea of "secret" is that you wear a blindfold and anything you can't see is therefore "secret".

More like "Amazon's Blindlingly Obvious Weapon In Chip Design Is AWS".

>>jerf+ij2
All Cloud Providers are working on vertically integrating compute - for example, look at GCP's bet on TPUs and Azure's investment into Cobalt and Maia.

The difference is, Amazon's bet on commodified ML Compute infra largely paid off due to a mix of developer advocacy and the fact that there is a large existing market of users somewhat adept with AWS.

In fact, it could be a case study of how an incumbent can lose the ball - back in the 2014-18 period Tensorflow was THE framework, and Google absolutely could have used it as a killer app to market then new GCP (and they did try), but Amazon was able to outcompete GCP on both Containerization and Cloud ML Compute because of their strong developer advocacy and training programs.

Don't be dismissive about Amazon's historically strong developer advocacy motion. Peak Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, VMWare etc all placed similar bets, and Nvidia has done something similar since the mid-2010s in the ML space. At the end of the day, buyers are somewhat technical.

GTM strategy is just as important as technical and product strategy.

>>alephn+Ok2
Apple's approach is a prime example - why depend on Intel when they're lagging behind?

By designing their own chips and partnering with a foundry to manufacture them, Apple can create customized solutions that meet their product's specific requirements, distinguishing themselves from other PC manufacturers that use Intel/AMD chips.

Amazon recognizing it as an opportunity to stand out from the competition in the cloud services market by offering its own chips.