Microsoft unveils Maia 300 AI chip, its 'biggest bet yet' on its own silicon

Microsoft on Monday unveiled Maia 300, the third generation of its custom AI chip, and said it will begin large-scale deployments in 2027, GeekWire reported. Azure chief Scott Guthrie said Maia will become "the primary AI inference system for Microsoft products and services."

CEO Satya Nadella called it "our biggest bet yet on our own silicon" in a post on X.

Microsoft says Maia 300 will produce 40 per cent more AI output for the same power as leading GPU-based systems, and a full rack will produce up to seven times as much output as the current generation. The chips are designed for fast-growing workloads such as multistep AI agents and long-context models.

The Redmond company designs the chips and has them manufactured by TSMC. The shift could save billions of dollars and reduce Microsoft's reliance on Nvidia, which remains a major partner, GeekWire noted.