Alibaba Cloud can’t deploy servers fast enough to satisfy demand for AI

China’s Alibaba Cloud can’t deploy servers fast enough to keep up with demand for AI, so is rationing access to GPUs so that customers who use all of its services enjoy priority access.

Speaking on Alibaba Group’s Q2 earnings call, CEO Yongming Wu said “demand for AI is accelerating” and also deepening due to demand “from all aspects of enterprise operations ... with applications across product development, throughout manufacturing processes, and also in terms of supporting enterprises and customers [to] use their products.”

“We’re not even able to keep pace with the growth in customer demand, in terms of the pace at which we can deploy new servers,” he added.

Demand is so strong that Alibaba is rationing its GPUs to prioritize the needs of its best customers.

“If an external customer is utilizing all of our services across cloud, all of Alibaba Cloud services spanning storage ...