Free NewsletterPro Login

Why Amazon Just Teamed Up With a Nvidia Rival

A stylized illustration of a cylindrical cup with blue arrows and lines indicating a swirling or rotational motion inside the cup.
Published Mar 13, 2026
Share:
A robotic arm connects an Amazon server to an AI chip in a futuristic data center, symbolizing a powerful partnership. Digital data and packages move swiftly, with the BriefsFinance logo in the corner.
Summary:

  • Amazon and chip startup Cerebras announced a deal Friday to combine their AI chips inside AWS data centers, targeting faster and cheaper AI inference.
  • Cerebras builds its chips without the expensive high-bandwidth memory Nvidia relies on — a different approach that claims up to 21x faster response generation.
  • Nvidia is expected to respond at its GTC conference next week with a competing architecture using its own recent $20 billion acquisition.

Nvidia has a new problem. It's sitting inside Amazon's cloud.

What the Deal Actually Does

Amazon and Cerebras announced Friday they'll combine their chips inside AWS data centers to speed up AI inference — the part of AI that actually generates responses for users.

The setup uses a "divide and conquer" approach. Amazon's own Trainium3 chips handle the first step: reading and processing the user's prompt. Then Cerebras chips take over for the second step: generating the answer. Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman told Reuters that splitting the work this way is the key to making inference dramatically faster and cheaper.

AWS plans to roll out the service in the second half of 2026.

What Makes Cerebras Different

Cerebras builds what's known as a wafer-scale chip — essentially a processor the size of an entire silicon wafer, roughly the size of a dinner plate. It skips the high-bandwidth memory modules that Nvidia's flagship chips require, which are expensive and create bottlenecks when generating responses word-by-word.

That design has already attracted serious buyers. Earlier this year, Cerebras signed a $10 billion deal with OpenAI to supply compute for ChatGPT. In February, the company closed a $1 billion funding round at a $23.1 billion valuation, backed by Fidelity, Benchmark, and Tiger Global.

Nvidia Isn't Sitting Still

This isn't a story about Nvidia losing — yet. AWS still runs the vast majority of its AI workloads on Nvidia hardware, and that isn't changing overnight.

But the direction is clear. Every major cloud provider is investing in custom chips to reduce their dependence on Nvidia and cut costs. Nvidia spent $20 billion acquiring chip designer Groq in December and is expected to unveil its own disaggregated inference architecture at GTC on March 16.

The AI hardware race just got a second front.

Disclosure

Get Market Briefs delivered to your inbox every morning for free!

No fluff. No noise. No politics. Just finance news you can read in 5 minutes.

Blogs

April 29, 2026
What Is Blockchain? A Plain English Guide For Investors
  • Blockchain is a digital ledger that records every transaction on a public network.
  • Once a transaction is recorded, it cannot be changed or deleted.
  • It is the foundation of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and thousands of other cryptocurrencies.
Read More
April 29, 2026
How To Negotiate Bills: The Script That Saves You Hundreds A Year
  • Most monthly bills are negotiable, even though most Americans never try.
  • A simple phone call with the right script can lower your phone, internet, and utility bills.
  • The key rule is to be nice. Customer service reps have more flexibility than most people realize.
Read More
April 29, 2026
75 15 10 Rule: The Budget That Builds Wealth On Autopilot
  • The 75 15 10 rule is a budgeting plan: spend at most 75% of your income, invest at least 15%, and save at least 10%.
  • It works by making sure you pay yourself before you spend.
  • Once your savings target is hit, you shift the 10% over to investing, becoming a 75/25 plan.
Read More
April 29, 2026
How To Rebalance Portfolio: The Strategy That Forces You To Buy Low And Sell High
  • Rebalancing means adjusting your portfolio back to your target allocation when it drifts too far.
  • The two main methods are time-based (rebalance once a year) and threshold-based (rebalance when allocation drifts more than 5%).
  • If you are still adding money, you can rebalance by directing new money instead of selling.
Read More
April 29, 2026
How To Buy Treasury Bonds: A Beginner's Guide
  • Treasury bonds are loans you make to the U.S. government. They are considered the safest investment in the world.
  • You can buy them at TreasuryDirect.gov directly or through any major brokerage.
  • There are three main types: T-Bills, Treasury Notes, and Treasury Bonds. The longer the term, the higher the interest rate.
Read More
April 29, 2026
Forward Vs Futures Contracts: What's The Real Difference?
  • Both forward and futures contracts are deals to buy or sell something at a set price on a future date.
  • Futures trade on exchanges. Forwards are private deals between two parties.
  • Most regular investors do not use either. They are mostly tools for businesses and big institutions.
Read More
April 29, 2026
Alternative Investments Explained: What They Are And Why They Matter
  • Alternative investments are anything that is not a regular stock or bond.
  • The most common types are precious metals, crypto, real estate, commodities, and collectibles.
  • Most investors should hold 5% to 25% of their portfolio in alternatives, depending on risk tolerance.
Read More
April 29, 2026
How To Buy Bitcoin For Beginners: 3 Simple Ways
  • There are three main ways to buy Bitcoin: directly on an exchange, through a Bitcoin ETF, or through a Bitcoin miner stock.
  • Each has its own pros, cons, and tax setup.
  • Most beginners do best starting small and using dollar cost averaging.
Read More
April 29, 2026
How To Follow Smart Money: The 5 Market Shifts Framework
  • "Smart money" means big investors with deep research teams and fast information.
  • You can follow them by watching for 5 types of market shifts.
  • The goal is to spot where money is moving before it shows up on CNBC.
Read More
April 29, 2026
Insider Trading Meaning: What It Really Is (And Why Some Of It Is Legal)
  • Insider trading means buying or selling a stock based on facts the public does not know yet.
  • Some insider trading is legal. Some is a federal crime that can send people to prison.
  • The SEC tracks every legal insider trade in a public file called Form 4.
Read More
1 2 3 19
Share via
Copy link