Apparently, Amazon has a dual strategy to ensure it can get enough supplies of crucial data-centre processors and this involves close ties with Nvidia, while at the same time developing its own Graviton4 chips.

At the company’s recent re: Invent conference, Amazon said the new chips will have 30 per cent better performance than their predecessors. Amazon Web Services said computers using the processors will start coming online in the coming months.

The company also unveiled Trainium2, an updated processor version designed for artificial intelligence systems. It will begin powering new services starting next year, Amazon said.

That chip provides an alternative to so-called AI accelerators sold by Nvidia -- processors that have been vital to the build-out of artificial intelligence services.

All these announcements were confusing as Amazon also touted "an expansion of its partnership" with Nvidia, whose chief executive officer, Jensen Huang, joined AWS counterpart Adam Selipsky on stage. AWS will be the first big user of an updated version of that company's Grace Hopper Superchip and one of the data-centre companies hosting Nvidia's DGX Cloud service.