Amazon designs a powerful data center processor chip that will pose a serious challenge on rivals

Amazon.com Inc said on Tuesday it had designed a more powerful data center processor chip, as it looks to pose a serious challenge to the domination of market leaders Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc . The AWS Graviton 2 processor, which is estimated to be seven times faster than its previous chip, uses technology from Softbank Group Corp-owned Arm Holdings. [caption id=“attachment_7464001” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] Image: Reuters[/caption] Reuters reported last week that Amazon was looking to design a data center processor chip to power its cloud unit. Data center processor chips are used in cloud computing, an area that is fast emerging as a big business. With the new chip, Amazon is looking to reduce its reliance on processors made by Intel and AMD to power its money-spinning cloud business, AWS. Intel currently controls more than 90 percent of the server processor market, with AMD controlling most of the remainder.