Microsoft and NVIDIA have strengthened their partnership to boost artificial intelligence capabilities, unveiling innovative technologies aimed at enhancing AI performance and scalability. The collaboration focuses on integrating NVIDIA’s advanced Blackwell architecture with Microsoft Azure, which promises to expand AI functionalities for businesses and developers. By introducing high-performance virtual machines and AI deployment tools, the partnership seeks to propel innovation across various industries, shaping the future of enterprise AI.
The integration of NVIDIA Blackwell with Azure AI represents a significant advancement. Ian Buck, NVIDIA’s Vice President of Hyperscale and HPC, highlighted the impact of the NVIDIA GB200 NVL72, which offers unparalleled performance and connectivity to address complex AI workloads. This development enables businesses to innovate more quickly and securely. Microsoft has launched the Azure ND GB200 V6, a new virtual machine series featuring NVIDIA technology, including the NVIDIA Quantum InfiniBand networking and the liquid-cooled NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 supercomputer, designed specifically for high-performance AI tasks.
Joining the existing line of Microsoft VMs that utilize NVIDIA GPUs like the H100 and H200, the new VM series marks a pivotal step forward. Microsoft also plans to introduce a new line of VMs supported by NVIDIA’s Blackwell Ultra GPUs, slated for release later this year. These advancements are part of a broader effort to make cutting-edge AI technology more accessible and effective for users.
Moreover, Microsoft and NVIDIA have advanced the field of agentic AI by incorporating NVIDIA Inference Microservices, or NVIDIA NIM, into Azure AI Foundry. These pre-packaged, optimized containers streamline the deployment of generative AI tools and AI agents. Epic, a leader in electronic health records, is set to leverage NVIDIA NIM and Azure AI Foundry to improve patient care, clinician efficiency, and AI-driven medical research. Additionally, Microsoft and NVIDIA are optimizing the performance of various language models for Azure AI Foundry, including the newly optimized Meta Llama models.
Beyond these developments, Microsoft and NVIDIA have announced initiatives to accelerate AI innovations for other companies. They have introduced several new offerings to the Azure marketplace, including NVIDIA Omniverse, NVIDIA Isaac Sim virtual workstations, and Omniverse Kit App Streaming. These additions cater primarily to AI developers, supporting the development of robotics simulations, digital twins, and other AI-driven applications, further advancing AI innovation across the board.
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