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Google unveils Arm-based server chips set to launch in late 2024

With the new Axion chips, Google aims to create more affordable cloud-computing for the industry at large.

TJ Denzer

April 9, 2024 8:38 AM

Image via Google

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Google has collaborated with Arm to create new cloud-computing server chips that it hopes will add affordability to the market as it moves to compete directly with Microsoft’s Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Google and Arm unveiled the first of these custom-built processors with the Axion chip and claimed these chips will be used in Google services, as well as becoming available to third-party customers, in late 2024.

Google and Arm unveiled the new Axion cloud-computing custom processor chips during its Cloud Next conference in Las Vegas this week. There, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian gave some specifics on what the new chip is capable of. Google claims its Axion chip is based on Arm’s Neoverse 2 design and offers 30 percent better performance than other Arm-based chips currently powering AWS and Azure. It’s also said to have 60 percent better energy efficiency than comparable X86-based processors.

Google’s initial plans for the Axion chips are to deploy them for internal purposes such as running YouTube advertising workloads. They will also be used in BigTable and Spanner databases, and the BigQuery data analytics tool. Once officially available, Google will make the Axion available to third-party customers as well. Datadog, Elastic, Snap, and OpenX are already in talks with Google to adopt the Axion once it’s ready.

With Google making a heavy play to advance itself in the cloud-computing space, it will be interesting to see if the company can pull attention away from the dominance that Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services have established in the space. According to CNBC, Google held about 7.5 percent of the cloud computing infrastructure market in 2022 compared to Azure and AWS, controlling about 62 percent of it. Stay tuned to our Google topic as we continue to watch for the Axion’s launch and its effect on the market later this year.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.