AWS Warns Engineers to Conserve CPU Capacity Amid AI Compute Crunch
Amazon's cloud computing arm AWS has instructed engineers to conserve CPU capacity amid an artificial intelligence (AI) compute crunch. The move aims to ensure sufficient capacity for customers, according to a report by The Information.
AWS managers reportedly told engineers during a meeting in May to reduce compute usage wherever possible, including on CPU-powered servers. Engineers have expressed concerns that it now takes several days to obtain CPU server capacity, which was previously available within hours.
As part of the effort to conserve resources, teams are being directed to decommission idle EC2 instances and reallocate that capacity to customers. AWS has set deadlines later this year for teams to reduce compute usage and promote efficient use of EC2 resources.
The AI infrastructure crunch is affecting CPU capacity as well as memory chips and GPUs. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. CEO Lisa Su recently stated that the AI market has reached an 'inflection in demand,' particularly for CPUs, as enterprises deploy more AI agents and move experimental AI workloads into production.