Microsoft has begun deploying its first internally designed AI chip, Maia 200, inside selected data centers, a step in its long-running effort to control more of its infrastructure stack. Despite this move, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella recently declared Nvidia and AMD will remain part of Microsoft’s procurement strategy, even as Maia 200 enters production use. “We have a great partnership with Nvidia, with AMD. They are innovating. We are innovating,” Nadella said. Maia 200 is an inference-focused processor built specifically for running large AI models efficiently rather than training them from scratch. Microsoft has shared performance comparisons that claim advantages over rival in-house chips from other cloud providers, although independent validation remains limited. According to Microsoft leadership, its Superintelligence team, led by Mustafa Suleyman, will receive first access to Maia 200 hardware. While Maia 200 will also support OpenAI workloads running on Azure, internal demand for compute remains intense. Suleyman has said publicly that even within Microsoft, access to the latest hardware is treated as a scarce resource. Supply limitations from Nvidia, rising costs, and long lead times have pushed companies toward internal chip development, but these efforts have not eliminated dependence on external vendors.