Skip to content

Google’s new generation of Tensor AI chips is actually two chips, one for inference and one for training.

Google's TPU 8t chips were designed for training AI models, not running them.

Credit:

Google

Google's TPU 8t chips were designed for training AI models, not running them.

Credit:

Google

Most of the companies that have fully committed to building AI models are gobbling up every Nvidia AI accelerator they can get, but Google has taken a different approach. Most of its cloud AI infrastructure is based on its line of custom Tensor processing units (TPUs). After announcing the seventh-gen Ironwood TPU in 2025, the company has moved on to the eighth-gen version , but it’s not just a faster iteration of the same chip.

The new TPUs come in two flavors, providing Google and its customers with an AI platform that is faster and more efficient, the company says.…