Everything on Hardware & Operations

Custom silicon, specifically Graviton and Trainium, provides a 20% cost-performance advantage over general-purpose hardware. This vertical integration is essential for maintaining competitive pricing in a high-capex environment.

Impact: Proprietary hardware allows hyperscalers to defend margins against price wars and offer superior value propositions for inference-heavy workloads.

— from AWS AI Infrastructure Strategy and Agentic Workflows · a16z Podcast· Oct 08, 2026