As NVIDIA's GTC 2025 event unfolds, the company's collaboration with Microsoft has gained significant attention due to a series of AI-focused announcements, particularly the integration of Blackwell with Azure.
Microsoft and NVIDIA are strengthening their partnership to drive artificial intelligence advancements, introducing new technologies designed to enhance AI performance and scalability. Their latest initiative focuses on integrating NVIDIA's cutting-edge Blackwell architecture with Microsoft Azure, expanding AI capabilities for enterprises and developers. From high-performance virtual machines to AI deployment tools, this collaboration aims to accelerate innovation across industries and shape the future of enterprise AI.
Integration of NVIDIA Blackwell into Azure AI
"Our partnership with Azure and the introduction of the NVIDIA Blackwell platform represents a major leap forward. The NVIDIA GB200 NVL72, with its unparalleled performance and connectivity, addresses the most complex AI workloads, enabling businesses to innovate faster and more securely," stated Ian Buck, NVIDIA's Vice President of Hyperscale and High-Performance Computing.
Microsoft recently announced the Azure ND GB200 V6, a new series of virtual machines (VMs) featuring NVIDIA technology. This VM series includes NVIDIA Quantum InfiniBand networking and the NVIDIA GB200 NVL72, a liquid-cooled supercomputer specifically designed for high-performance AI workloads.
The new VM series complements Microsoft's existing VM lineup that utilizes NVIDIA GPUs, particularly the H100 and H200 models. Microsoft also plans to launch a range of VMs powered by NVIDIA's Blackwell Ultra GPU, expected later this year.
Adding NVIDIA NIM to Azure AI Foundry
Microsoft and NVIDIA are contributing to the advancement of agentic AI. As part of this effort, both companies have incorporated NVIDIA inference microservices, known as NVIDIA NIM, into Azure AI Foundry. NVIDIA NIM consists of pre-packaged, optimized containers designed to simplify the deployment of generative AI tools and AI agents.
Epic, a major player in the electronic health records field, plans to fully utilize NVIDIA NIM and Azure AI Foundry. The company aims to enhance patient care, improve clinician efficiency, and conduct AI-driven research for new medical breakthroughs and processes.
Microsoft and NVIDIA are also working to optimize the performance of various language models on Azure AI Foundry. This includes the recently optimized Meta Llama model, now available to developers using Azure AI Foundry.
Accelerating Comprehensive AI Innovation
In addition to these developments, Microsoft and NVIDIA announced plans to help accelerate AI innovation for other companies. The partners have added several new offerings to the Azure Marketplace, including:
- NVIDIA Omniverse
- NVIDIA Isaac Sim virtual workstations
- Omniverse Kit application streaming
These additions primarily target AI developers, supporting the creation of robotic simulations, digital twins, and other AI-driven applications.
