Microsoft
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All things MSFT related
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Msft has been in the news lately-this time in the field of Quantum computing. Is it a threat to Nvidia? In short, no.
Quantum computers are not designed to perform memory intensive operations like AI and they require extreme conditions such as operating in a near absolute zero environment in a vacuum, making them impractical for most business cases.Quantum computers are very good at solving complex scientific problems by simulating interactions from almost infinity large permutations.
Nvidia is a leader in providing researchers(msft/Goog) with the software and hardware to make progress in quantum computers possible (DGX Quantum(servers), CUDA-Q(a quantum dev platform) and cuQuantum SDK(libraries and dev tools).
Jensen Huang recently stated 'practical uses for quantum computers are between 10 and 30 years away'.Microsoft has just announced a major breakthrough in quantum computing with its new Majorana 1 chip. This chip is built using a special type of particle called Majorana fermions, which are unique because they act as their own antimatter counterparts. The idea is that this will make quantum computers more stable and less prone to errors, something that’s been a huge challenge so far.
The big deal? Microsoft believes this chip could scale up to a million qubits—the building blocks of quantum computers—which would be a massive leap forward. Currently, most quantum computers only work with a few hundred qubits at best.
This news has shaken up the tech industry, with investors reacting quickly to the potential of this technology.Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, has said this technology could help revolutionise industries like cybersecurity, drug discovery, and climate science by solving problems that traditional computers can’t handle. However, while the Majorana 1 chip is a major step forward, it will still take more research and development before quantum computing becomes widely usable.
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Transcript from an interview with Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Satya Nadella to celebrate 50 years of MSFT(Friday April 4)
Nadella: What we are really supplying is intelligence. It started in 1975 with Bill and software was the thing. And today nobody is going to get up and say, hey, we need less of it. I need more of it and I need it daily. One thing is certain, the world needs more compute in the future. We will adjust to the geopolitical shifts and see how that shakes out.(Nadella). Bill Gates- I’d like to say that the biggest trend in the world today, way beyond any political shifts is the arrival of AI. We just turned 50 as a company but the next decade will probably be the most profound. Asked about potential over supply of AI compute, Nadella: Do we have to be matched up to it, perfect matching of demand and supply every second? No. So is this something we are absolutely committed to to building our data centres across 60 regions? We are absolutely going to do this. Sure there are always adjustments.
Steve Ballmer: There is a bright future in intelligence and the biggest mistake we could make is to slow investment due to a short term hiccup. Bill Gates: you will always go through periods of having a bit too much supply but over the next 10 years you will probably find we are always going to be in a shortage vs demand so what is key is having a large capital budget to maintain the investment build out.
Nadella: Heres the interesting thing. We have found the thing (AI) I am not looking for any other things. Intelligence will power everything . I am building our infrastructure to support the need in the future. The need from a robotics company, an autonomous driving company, a medical research and drug company.