VMware Teases AI on Its Multicloud Stack, Unveiling Impending Innovations
The tech giant VMware has recently dropped hints about its forthcoming announcements, shedding light on its plans to enable generative AI across its stack by leveraging resources from various clouds. The company’s president, Sumit Dhawan, revealed this strategy during VMware’s July 2023 multicloud briefing, a video event that took place just last week. Dhawan emphasized the importance of efficiently running large language models in a VMware environment while ensuring swift implementation of the technology.
Core VMware Doctrine: Consistent Policies for AI in Multicloud Environments
In line with VMware’s core doctrine, the strategy outlined in the video revolves around the consistent application of policies to resources, regardless of their location across multiple clouds. For AI, this means enabling secure utilization of data from various sources in a model.
Choice and Control: VMware’s Commitment to Enterprise Customers
Vittorio Viarengo, the Veep for Cross-Cloud Services, highlighted VMware’s commitment to providing customers with the freedom to choose data sources from different clouds and run models and applications efficiently, all while maintaining the control and privacy that enterprise clients demand.
Enhancing Cloud Infrastructure: Leveraging AI and Machine Learning
Sujata Banerjee, the VP of research at VMware, posed two key questions: “How do we efficiently run AI workloads on cloud infrastructure?” and “How can we utilize AI and machine learning to enhance the cloud infrastructure itself, endowing it with scalability, automation, and other valuable properties?”
Off-Prem Accelerators: Processing On-Prem Data with Efficiency
Banerjee also mentioned the possibility of using off-premises accelerators to process on-premises data. While this approach might result in slower processing, it eliminates the need to move data and offers certain advantages. Notable partners supporting VMware’s efforts in confidential computing standards include AMD, Samsung, and RISC-V.
Fostering an Ecosystem of Partners for Rapid Implementation
Additionally, the video touched upon VMware’s plan to foster an ecosystem of partners, ranging from providers of large language models (LLMs) to service providers that facilitate enterprise stack implementation in a swift and efficient manner.
Anticipated Release: VMware’s Timeline and Upcoming Event
These remarks go beyond mere speculation. Dhawan explicitly stated, “In just a few weeks, many of our customers will get to see and experience this new technology firsthand.” The timeframe coincides with VMware’s annual event, “Explore,” which kicks off on August 21.
Broadcom’s Acquisition of VMware: European Commission Approval Expected
Traditionally, “Explore” serves as the platform for VMware’s major news and strategy updates. However, an even more significant event is looming in the company’s history. The Financial Times reported that the European Commission is on the verge of approving Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, a move that could have substantial implications. The EC had expressed concerns that Broadcom’s ownership of VMware might hinder competition among manufacturers of certain networking hardware. However, Broadcom appears to have addressed these concerns to the satisfaction of EU regulators, leading to the anticipated approval.
