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Placas de servidores con chips aceleradores de IA iluminados en ámbar dentro de un centro de datos, con tres ingenieros en silueta al fondo
Chips aceleradores de IA iluminados en un centro de datos, con ingenieros al fondo. · Imagen generada para EPM

Google and Amazon open PyTorch tools against Nvidia

Google opened the code of TorchTPU and Amazon presented TorchNeuron for Trainium, two tools aimed at letting artificial intelligence programmers migrate from…

--- The context --- For years, creating artificial intelligence meant working on Nvidia chips, because its CUDA software fit with PyTorch and left its processors integrated into the industry standard almost by default. According to figures cited by Amazon, 85% of artificial intelligence applications are written with PyTorch, the open-source program used to build most models. Freeing that environment from one manufacturer touches the center of daily programming work. --- The facts --- Amazon moved first. On Monday it presented TorchNeuron, adapted to Trainium, its own chip, which allows an application to migrate with a simple configuration change. It will also send code to the central PyTorch project to remove parts that tie it to one manufacturer. One day later, Google opened the code of TorchTPU, which allows programs written for Nvidia chips to run on its TPU processors without rewriting a line. It presented it at the PyTorch 2026 conference, to train, serve and deploy models with Hugging Face, vLLM and SGLang. Google said it tested TorchTPU with up to 8,000 Ironwood processors and reached 52% efficiency with the Qwen model family, a figure it presents as evidence that its alternative already works at large scale. --- The positions --- Colin Brace, vice president at Annapurna Labs, the Amazon unit that designs its chips, argued in indirect terms that what matters is removing the block that prevented a real option. Amazon cited Deepgram, which after migrating to Trainium processes 70% more audio per dollar. Jana van Greunen, director of engineering for PyTorch at Meta, said in indirect terms that one cannot remain tied to a single hardware architecture. The project was developed with Meta, which created PyTorch in 2016 and handed it over in 2022 to its foundation. Jeff Boudier, vice president of product at Hugging Face, said in indirect terms that the collaboration seeks to let programmers choose the hardware that suits them best without losing access to their favorite models. --- What remains unknown --- Neither tool guarantees a mass abandonment of Nvidia. Switching chips still involves adjustments and testing, and the company retains years of advantage in performance and in its software ecosystem. --- Unanswered questions --- How many developers will actually migrate to Trainium or to TPUs in coming months? Will the code Amazon sends to PyTorch verifiably reduce dependence on one manufacturer? Will the 52% with Qwen be repeated with other models? --- EPM analysis --- The challenge targets the software layer that sustained the previous dominance. If PyTorch works well on different hardware, the choice stops being predetermined and depends on cost and measured performance. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, opening TorchTPU and launching TorchNeuron is a concrete step toward a market with real options, because it attacks the software block and not only promises new hardware. The 85% figure for PyTorch and the Deepgram case, with 70% more audio per dollar, show where the leverage lies. But Nvidia's advantage remains intact while switching requires adjustments and testing, so the opening matters for what it enables today.
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