Cray supercomputing comes to Microsoft Azure to boost AI workloads in the cloud

A new alliance between Cray and Microsoft will bring Cray’s supercomputing capabilities to Microsoft’s Azure cloud, in an effort to help businesses more easily scale workloads for artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, modeling, and more, according to a Monday press release.

The partnership will enable new capabilities for businesses in the cloud, but it will also help broaden the reach of Cray’s capabilities, the release said. Customers who may have previously been unable to access an on-premise Cray system will now have an option to engage its features in the cloud.

"By working with Cray to provide dedicated supercomputers in Azure, we are offering customers uncompromising performance and scalability that enables a host of new previously unimaginable scenarios in the public cloud," Microsoft Azure corporate vice president Jason Zander said in the release. "More importantly, we’re moving customers into a new era by empowering them to use HPC and AI to drive breakthrough advances in science, engineering and health."