In the eleventh edition of on-site coverage of AWS re:Invent, our analysts break down the conference’s kickoff keynotes as the battle for AI supremacy heats up amongst the hyperscalers.

Amazon Web Services Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Adam Selipsky’s address set the stage for a game-changing shift at the company. With a strategic vision that pierced through the fog of competition, Selipsky delivered a message that resonated far beyond the conference walls with a keynote that not only showcased AWS industry prowess, but also underscored the fierce competition with Microsoft and the evolving landscape of custom silicon and cloud security.

“I thought it was a very strong keynote,” said John Furrier (pictured, left), theCUBE analyst and SiliconANGLE Media Inc. co-founder. “The undertone was, we are not going to let you or anyone else say that we’re behind in AI — we’re going to flex it. To all the naysayers out there: We’re different. We’re reinventing. This is who we are at AWS.”

Furrier spoke with fellow co-founder and theCUBE Research principal analyst Dave Vellante (right) about Selipsky’s keynote as a part of coverage at the “Supercloud 5: The Battle for AI Supremacy” event, during an exclusive program on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed AWS’ plans to lead the charge in artificial intelligence, custom silicon and data security.

Selipsky’s keynote sets the stage for AWS’ future plans

The AWS re:Invent conference has grown to become a pivotal moment in the tech world, and Selipsky’s keynote signaled a new chapter in AWS’ journey to reinforce the company’s determination in maintaining the lead position in an increasingly competitive cloud computing industry.

“We’re going to hear the narrative come out,” Furrier said. “Amazon’s competing with the ecosystem. I’m sure you’ll see some announcements that are going to come out that are going to be threatening to some companies.”

One of the key takeaways from the keynote was AWS’ commitment to showcasing the company’s strengths and differentiating it from the competition. AWS is not just another player in the realm of AI and cloud computing; it is a game-changer, according to Selipsky.

The keynote gave a comprehensive overview of AWS’ achievements and future plans, highlighting the company’s dominance across various verticals and showcasing its position as the number one choice for businesses across the board, according to theCUBE analysts.

“I think where the dots connect in my mind is, if I’m a customer, do I really care that there’s a lot of proprietary and amazing cost and speed going on?” Furrier said. “I think there’s a game-changing shift happening where the cloud players are the new global infrastructure, like hardware. So, the physical transit and transport of data is going to be rolled out.”

The battle for cloud supremacy: AWS, Microsoft and the role of custom silicon

The cloud computing landscape is witnessing an intense battle for supremacy, with AWS and Microsoft at the forefront. Both giants are investing heavily in custom silicon, which is poised to reshape the industry’s future.

AWS’ strategic emphasis on custom silicon, exemplified by its Graviton series of processors, positions it as a frontrunner in the race for innovation, according to Vellante. Microsoft, on the other hand, is not far behind.

“The perception, of course before the OpenAI meltdown, was that Microsoft and OpenAI had the lead — and they did,” Vellante said. “The real a race in AI is the data … the quality of the data is going to determine the quality of your AI.”

Beyond the silicon battle, the importance of security in the cloud was also a topic of discussion during Selipsky’s keynote. AWS showcased its commitment to enhancing security by integrating CloudWatch, CloudTrail and SOC compliance features. This move aims to instill trust in AWS’ infrastructure, particularly in the context of mission-critical workloads.

“The most important part of this presentation and the strongest part of his keynote was when he basically said, ‘Look, you can trust Amazon with your generative AI. Privacy, trust, security is central to what we do. It’s built in; it’s designed in,” Vellante said.

Here’s the complete episode, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the “Supercloud 5: The Battle for AI Supremacy” event:

Photo: SiliconANGLE