Google has announced the release of Ironwood, its seventh generation Tensor Processing Unit, which aims to compete with established players like Nvidia in the artificial intelligence market. This powerful chip is designed to enhance AI infrastructure by enabling the training of large models and powering real-time applications, with the capability to connect up to 9,216 chips in a single pod, effectively eliminating data bottlenecks. According to Google, Ironwood is more than four times faster than its predecessor, and major clients such as AI startup Anthropic are already planning to utilize up to 1 million of these new TPUs for their Claude model. This move comes as Google reports a significant increase in cloud revenue, reaching $15.15 billion in the third quarter, a 34% increase from the previous year, indicating rising demand for AI infrastructure solutions. CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted that the demand for both TPU and GPU-based solutions has been a key driver of growth, prompting the company to increase its capital spending forecast to $93 billion.
Amazon Web Services is set to introduce new benefits for its Managed Services Provider Partners in 2026, aiming to enhance their ability to deliver cloud solutions. With global spending on managed cloud services projected to reach $220.5 billion by 2029, these enhancements will help partners optimize their practices in key areas such as artificial intelligence and security. The new benefits include incentives for customer management and strategic services, as well as support for government practices. According to Julia Chen, Vice President of Specialists and Partner Core at AWS, these initiatives are designed to empower partners to become trusted advisors, fostering business growth and improved customer outcomes. Interested parties can find more details on the AWS Partner Central platform and participate in upcoming enablement sessions.
Why do we care?
Google just dropped Ironwood — their new AI chip — and it’s a beast. Four times faster than the last one, connects over 9,000 chips together, and Anthropic’s planning to use a million of them for Claude. That’s not a side project — that’s infrastructure power. Chips really are getting interesting again.
Google’s betting big here. Cloud revenue’s up 34%, and they’re spending $93 billion to keep building. This is the AI arms race in full swing — hyperscalers aren’t just hosting AI anymore, they are AI infrastructure.
And while Google builds out its compute empire, AWS is taking a different tack — new benefits for MSP partners in 2026. The focus? AI, security, and business outcomes. Translation: Amazon wants partners to be strategic, not just resellers.
For MSPs, the takeaway’s simple — you’re not competing with the hyperscalers, you’re orbiting them. The play isn’t infrastructure; it’s governance, optimization, and integration. Clients will need someone to navigate these ecosystems, manage costs, and keep them compliant.
The hyperscalers are building the roads. MSPs can own the traffic control — if they move fast enough.