TPUs vs. GPUs: What They Are, How They Differ, and Which Workloads Belong on Each

If you've worked with machine learning on Google Cloud, you've hit the choice: GPU instance or TPU? Most teams default to GPU because that's what they already know. But as inference costs climb and TPU tooling matures, it's worth understanding what each chip actually does and when one outperforms the other. This post covers what GPUs and TPUs are, how they work, and which workloads run better on each. It ends with a look at Google's current TPU lineup, including the eighth-generation chips annou