Microsoft emphasized to investors in its latest Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) 10-K filing that graphics processing units (GPUs) are a critical raw material for its fast-growing cloud business.

The annual report, released late last week, now makes mention of GPUs as a risk factor for outages that could arise if it can’t get the infrastructure needed.

Gartner forecasts worldwide AI semiconductors revenue will climb from $44.2 billion in 2022 to $53.4 billion in 2023 and $67.1 billion in 2024.

The research company also estimates that 64% of marketers have deployed or piloting more broadly artificial intelligence or machine-learning apps or programs. Nearly all marketers agree that generative AI will be a standard part of marketing team’s tech stacks within four years.

Shortages of these advanced chips required to run generative AI systems has set off a race to lock down computing power and find workarounds, the Wall Street Journalreported in May.

The graphics chips, or GPUs, used for AI are almost all made by Nvidia, but Alphabet, Intel, LeddarTech, IBM and others also make the chips.

The chip industry overall may see a glut in components because of the recent slowdown in consumers buying phones and computers, but the chips required to train AI models are in short supply.

Chris Miller, authorof Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology, wrote in a post on LinkedIn that there’s a boom for the specific types of chips used for AI. Some shortages are already becoming visible.

“And it seems like the demand for these types of chips is only set to grow,” he wrote.

The risk factor, according to Microsoft and initially noted by one media outlet, would affect business because the “complexity of our products and services demand more computing power” for everything from cloud services to all types of artificial intelligence (AI).

Microsoft’s technology and data centers depend on the availability of permitted and buildable land, predictable energy, networking supplies, and servers, including GPUs and other components.

The cost and or availability of these could be affected by a variety of factors, including the transition to a clean-energy economy, local and regional environmental regulations, and geopolitical disruptions.

These demands continue to increase as we introduce new products and services and support the growth and the augmentation of existing services such as Bing, Azure, Microsoft Account services, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, Dynamics 365, OneDrive, SharePoint Online, Skype, Xbox, and Outlook.com through the incorporation of AI features and/or functionality.

As marketers rely more heavily on technology, it will become even more important for the industry to pay attention to the chips and processors running their creations.