Microsoft Unveils Maia 300, Its Biggest Bet Yet on Its Own Silicon

Microsoft unveiled its Maia 300 chip on Monday at the OCP Summit in San Jose. Chief executive Satya Nadella called it the company's “biggest bet yet on our own silicon.”

Microsoft says the Maia line will become its primary inference system — the hardware that runs AI models for customers — with multi-gigawatt deployments planned from 2027. The company claims the system delivers 40 per cent more tokens per megawatt than leading GPU systems, and that a 96-chip rack performs at up to seven times the Maia 200. The chips use chiplets built on TSMC's 2-nanometre process, according to reporting by GeekWire and Reuters.

The launch is part of a wider industry shift: the largest AI companies are designing their own processors to cut dependence on outside suppliers and to tune hardware to their own models.

Also in S I this week: quantum computing company IonQ agreed to acquire cybersecurity firm Elisity in an all-stock deal worth up to $1.3 billion.