Latest news with #ProcessingUnits
Mint
8 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
How Sundar Pichai responded to 'Google's lost... it's over. You're the wrong guy to lead Google' remark
In a candid exchange during a recent podcast with YouTuber and researcher Lex Fridman, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai addressed growing public criticism about Google's perceived loss of momentum in the AI race, saying he remains confident in the company's long-term vision and leadership. Responding to a pointed comment —'Google's lost... it's over. You're the wrong guy to lead Google' — Pichai reflected on the strategic decisions he has made as CEO, emphasising the company's commitment to becoming 'AI-first' and responsibly building artificial general intelligence (AGI). 'Obviously, the main bet as a CEO I made was to make sure the company was approaching everything in an AI-first way,' Pichai said. 'We've made sure we put out products that are useful to people. I had a good sense of what we were building internally even during the turbulence last year.' Pichai highlighted several foundational moves made under his leadership, including the merger of Google Brain and DeepMind into the unified Google DeepMind team, a decision he believes has strengthened the company's AI research capabilities. He also referenced Google's early investment in Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) over a decade ago, which he said has been critical in scaling up and training large AI models like Gemini. In his characteristic calm tone, Pichai described his approach to leadership amid criticism. 'I am good at tuning out the noise and separating signal from noise,' he remarked, drawing an analogy to scuba diving. 'Sometimes, you jump in the ocean and it's choppy. But you go just a foot below, and it's the calmest thing in the universe.' He compared running Google to managing an elite football club like Barcelona or Real Madrid — where one rough season does not negate the strength of the squad or the long-term strategy. 'You watch the signals, and while some good feedback may come from the outside, internally you're making a set of consequential decisions. Many may feel inconsequential at the time, but they add up.' Despite challenges, Pichai believes Google is well-positioned in the AI landscape. 'We had to ramp up the TPUs, train Gemini, and scale our compute. To me, it seemed like the biggest opportunity space of the next decade — bigger than what we've seen before,' he said. 'We're set up better than most companies in the world.' The remarks come at a time when tech giants are fiercely competing for AI dominance, and public perception often shifts quickly based on product rollouts and visible innovation. For Pichai, however, the focus remains steady: 'Just keep things moving. We've set up the right teams, the right leaders, and we have world-class researchers.'
Techday NZ
3 days ago
- Business
- Techday NZ
Illumio & NVIDIA partner to boost Zero Trust for critical infrastructure
Illumio has announced a strategic integration with NVIDIA aimed at helping organisations secure critical infrastructure and improve their Zero Trust maturity by bringing together breach containment capabilities with the NVIDIA BlueField networking platform. The integration allows critical infrastructure organisations to deploy Illumio directly on NVIDIA BlueField, giving security teams comprehensive visibility into network dependencies and enabling precise security controls at both the host and network levels. With this collaboration, organisations can benefit from deep visibility into network traffic and enhanced protection of critical assets. The solution leverages NVIDIA BlueField Data Processing Units (DPUs) as enforcement points for Zero Trust, thereby simplifying the protection of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) systems while helping organisations ensure operational continuity and meet compliance standards. In the future, Illumio's platform will also allow organisations to use its AI-driven insights to identify risks and attacker behaviours, enabling rapid threat detection within Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and OT environments. The collaboration is positioned against the backdrop of growing cyber threats and heightened global regulatory expectations for critical infrastructure. According to Illumio, the integration delivers several key benefits, including enhanced visibility and policy enforcement for traffic within and between IT and OT networks. Using Illumio's labelling architecture, organisations can visualise all traffic to and from OT systems equipped with NVIDIA BlueField to better understand system communications across the infrastructure. The integration also promises rapid deployment of Zero Trust segmentation in OT and ICS settings, designed to reduce complexity, limit lateral movement risks, and contain potential breaches. Additional benefits cited include improved compliance and operational resilience, as organisations can identify assets, monitor traffic, and enforce security policies across converged IT/OT environments without impacting system performance or requiring major architectural changes. The combined solution is intended to provide consistent and reliable microsegmentation across varying environments while maintaining uptime and resilience. Todd Palmer, Senior Vice President of Global Partner Sales and Alliances at Illumio, stated, "The integration between Illumio and NVIDIA will significantly strengthen security for cyber-physical systems and bring us closer to achieving our vision of a world without cyber disasters. Critical infrastructure is under threat like never before. Together with NVIDIA, we're making it easier for organizations to protect critical systems, ensure operational continuity, and meet stringent compliance requirements in an increasingly complex landscape." Ofir Arkin, Senior Distinguished Architect for Cybersecurity at NVIDIA, said, "Cyber risks against critical infrastructure are more sophisticated and disruptive than ever, and lateral movement remains a key factor in successful attacks. Integrating the Illumio and NVIDIA BlueField platforms enables organizations to enhance visibility and control across IT and OT networks, reduce risk, contain attacks, and strengthen operational resilience." Illumio was named as a leader in The Forrester Wave: Microsegmentation Solutions, Q3 2024. The company is part of the NVIDIA partner ecosystem, offering a platform built on an AI security graph that includes Illumio Insights for AI-driven cloud detection and response, as well as Illumio Segmentation aimed at facilitating Zero Trust strategies. The partnership targets organisations responsible for critical infrastructure, which face increasing operational risks from sophisticated cyber threats. The converged approach to IT and OT security seeks to enable these organisations to identify risks, contain threats before they spread, and comply with regulatory requirements across complex operational environments.
Techday NZ
4 days ago
- Business
- Techday NZ
Illumio & NVIDIA team up to boost Zero Trust for infrastructure
Illumio has announced a new integration with NVIDIA BlueField Data Processing Units (DPUs) aimed at strengthening Zero Trust security in critical infrastructure environments. The collaboration brings together the Illumio breach containment platform with the NVIDIA BlueField networking platform, designed to provide security and operational efficiency across both Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) environments. This integration allows critical infrastructure organisations to deploy Illumio directly on NVIDIA BlueField, giving security teams a holistic view of network dependencies and permitting security controls at both host and network levels. Through this solution, organisations gain visibility into traffic, protect vital assets, and are able to use NVIDIA BlueField DPUs as Zero Trust enforcement points. The architecture is intended to simplify breach containment for critical systems and help maintain operational continuity while meeting increasingly strict compliance requirements. In addition to current features, future capabilities are planned, including the use of Illumio's AI-driven insights to identify risks and attacker patterns. This will aim to enable rapid detection of threats within Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and OT settings. The integration comes in the context of escalating threats and higher regulatory demands worldwide for improving cyber resilience and reducing risks in OT infrastructure. Organisations are facing challenges from sophisticated cyber threats and the need for solutions that can bridge IT and OT security requirements. One of the key advantages of the integration is expanded visibility and policy enforcement for traffic within and between IT and OT layers. Using Illumio's labelling architecture, teams can view all traffic to and from OT systems equipped with NVIDIA BlueField, enabling a greater understanding of cross-infrastructure communications. The integration is positioned to help organisations rapidly deploy Zero Trust security strategies within critical infrastructure. By extending segmentation to OT and ICS environments, organisations are able to decrease deployment complexity, accelerate the implementation process, and contain breaches by limiting lateral movement risks. Illumio also highlights the compliance and resilience benefits of this integration. Organisations can identify assets, monitor traffic, identify threats, and enforce security policies across integrated IT and OT environments without compromising system performance or requiring significant architectural changes. The microsegmentation provided is designed to be consistent and reliable, supporting diverse environments and maintaining uptime and resilience. Todd Palmer, Senior Vice President of Global Partner Sales and Alliances at Illumio, commented: "The integration between Illumio and NVIDIA will significantly strengthen security for cyber-physical systems and bring us closer to achieving our vision of a world without cyber disasters. Critical infrastructure is under threat like never before. Together with NVIDIA, we're making it easier for organisations to protect critical systems, ensure operational continuity, and meet stringent compliance requirements in an increasingly complex landscape." Ofir Arkin, Senior Distinguished Architect for Cybersecurity at NVIDIA, added: "Cyber risks against critical infrastructure are more sophisticated and disruptive than ever, and lateral movement remains a key factor in successful attacks. Integrating the Illumio and NVIDIA BlueField platforms enables organisations to enhance visibility and control across IT and OT networks, reduce risk, contain attacks, and strengthen operational resilience." Illumio is recognised as a vendor within the NVIDIA partner ecosystem and was named a leader in The Forrester Wave: Microsegmentation Solutions, Q3 2024. Its AI-powered security graph underpins the breach containment platform, which comprises Illumio Insights for AI cloud detection and response, and Illumio Segmentation for Zero Trust segmentation. The objective is to enable organisations to promptly identify risks and contain threats for a Zero Trust security posture.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bell Canada to establish six AI data centres in British Columbia
Canadian telecoms operator Bell Canada has revealed plans to establish six AI data centres in British Columbia as part of its Bell AI Fabric initiative. Bell AI Fabric initiative is aimed at creating the country's largest AI compute project. The Bell AI Fabric will begin with a data centre supercluster in British Columbia, targeting over 500MW of hydroelectric-powered AI compute capacity across the six facilities. The first facility, a 7MW AI inference centre in Kamloops, will open in June 2025 in partnership with Groq, an AI inference provider. This will be followed by a second 7MW facility in Merritt by the end of 2025. Both centres will utilise Groq's Language Processing Units (LPUs), designed to enhance AI inference tasks for large language models at lower costs per token compared to existing alternatives, the company said. Groq CEO and founder Jonathan Ross said: "Groq's advanced LPU technology, combined with Bell's extensive fibre infrastructure, is setting a new standard in AI inference. We're excited to bring these capabilities to Canada, significantly enhancing performance and affordability for AI-driven applications." Two additional 26 MW AI data centres are planned for Kamloops. The first, set to launch in 2026 at Thompson Rivers University (TRU), will facilitate AI training and inference, providing access to advanced compute resources for students and faculty through integration with the BCNET network. Waste heat from this facility will be repurposed into TRU's district energy system. A second 26MW data centre is scheduled for 2027. Two further AI data centres, with a combined capacity exceeding 400 MW and designed for high-density AI workloads, are in advanced planning stages, the company added. Bell Canada BCE president and CEO Mirko Bibic said: "Bell's AI Fabric will ensure that Canadian businesses, researchers, and public institutions can access high-performance, sovereign and environmentally responsible AI computing services. 'Through this investment, Bell is immediately bolstering Canada's sovereign AI compute capacity, while laying the groundwork to continue growing our AI economy. This is transformational for our customers, for Canada and for Bell." "Bell Canada to establish six AI data centres in British Columbia" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
15-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Google Cloud's Ironwood TPU Forges Better Enterprise AI
Artificial intelligence infrastructure has emerged as the critical battleground for cloud computing dominance. At this year's Google Cloud Next conference, the company demonstrated its intensified commitment to AI infrastructure, unveiling strategic investments, such as the Ironwood Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), designed to transform enterprise AI deployment across industries. "We're investing in the full stack of AI innovation," stated Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, who outlined plans to allocate $75 billion in capital expenditure toward this vision. This substantial commitment reflects the scale of investment required to maintain competitive positioning in the rapidly evolving AI infrastructure market. Innovating in AI requires courage and deep pockets. Google Cloud articulated a full stack strategy focused on developing AI-optimized infrastructure spanning three integrated layers: purpose-built hardware, foundation models, and tooling for building and orchestrating multi-agent systems. During the keynote presentation, Google Cloud introduced the Ironwood TPU its seventh-generation Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), representing a significant advancement in AI computational architecture. Cloud Computing infrastructure started as a method of replacing and optimizing on-premise data centers. Today, cloud computing providers are adding specific infrastructure to support new computing requirements introduced with supporting AI. TPUs are specialized processors developed by Google specifically to accelerate AI and machine learning workloads—with particular optimization for deep learning operations. TPUs deliver superior performance-per-dollar compared to general-purpose GPUs or CPUs across numerous machine learning use cases, resulting in reduced infrastructure costs or increased computational capability within existing budget constraints. Google Cloud AI Hypercomputer Architecture Google Cloud Ironwood TPUs represent a cornerstone component of Google Cloud's AI Hypercomputer architecture, which integrates optimized hardware and software components for high-demand AI workloads. The AI Hypercomputer platform constitutes a supercomputing system that combines performance-optimized silicon, open software frameworks, machine learning libraries, and flexible consumption models designed to enhance efficiency throughout the AI lifecycle—from training and tuning to inference and serving. According to Google's technical specifications, these specialized AI processors deliver computational performance that's 3,600 times more powerful and 29 times more energy efficient than the original TPUs launched in 2013. Ironwood also demonstrates a 4-5x performance improvement across multiple operational functions compared to the previous version 6 Trillium TPU architecture. Ironwood implements advanced liquid cooling systems and proprietary high-bandwidth Inter-Chip Interconnect (ICI) technology to create scalable computational units called "pods" that integrate up to 9,216 chips. At maximum pod configuration, Ironwood delivers 24 times the computational capacity of El Capitan, currently ranked as the world's largest supercomputer. To maximize this infrastructure's utility, Google Cloud has developed Pathways, a machine learning runtime created by Google DeepMind that enables efficient distributed computing across multiple TPU chips. Pathways on Google Cloud simplifies scaling beyond individual Ironwood Pods, allowing for the orchestration of hundreds of thousands of Ironwood chips for next-generation AI computational requirements. Google uses Pathways internally to train advanced models such as Gemini and now extends these same distributed computation capabilities to Google Cloud customers. While the industry has witnessed a proliferation of smaller, specialized AI models, significant AI chip innovation remains essential to deliver the performance requirements for supporting advanced reasoning and multimodal models. According to Amin Vahdat, VP/GM of ML, Systems & Cloud AI at Google Cloud, "Ironwood is designed to gracefully manage the complex computation and communication demands of 'thinking models,' which encompass Large Language Models (LLMs), Mixture of Experts (MoEs) and advanced reasoning tasks." This architecture addresses the market requirement for modular, scalable systems that deliver improved performance and accuracy while optimizing both cost efficiency and energy utilization. For enterprises implementing large-scale AI initiatives, Google's hardware advancements translate to quantifiable benefits across three dimensions: Organizations are over the phase of interesting AI proof of concept trials that never make it to production-grade systems. 2025 is the year that organizations expect to deploy use cases with quantifiable business value while laying the foundation for what's next. Google Cloud's enhanced AI infrastructure enables practical enterprise applications today while supporting previously constrained by computational economics or performance limitations. Consider the impact of AI today and tomorrow in: As competition intensifies among cloud infrastructure providers, Google's substantial investment in AI represents a strategic assessment that enterprise computing will increasingly prioritize AI-driven workloads—and that organizations will select platforms offering the optimal combination of performance, cost efficiency, and energy sustainability. The only constant in the AI market will be change. Business leaders must be comfortable with continuously adapting strategies to leverage AI advancements. For CIOs and technology leaders developing their AI implementation roadmaps, Google Cloud's hardware innovations, such as the Ironwood TPU, present technical and economic justifications to reevaluate their infrastructure strategy as AI becomes increasingly central to operational excellence and competitive differentiation.
