AWS just made its fifth-generation custom silicon generally available, and the numbers tell a story about where cloud computing is headed. Graviton5, which launched on June 10, 2026, delivers up to 25% better compute performance compared to its predecessor Graviton4, with a particular emphasis on AI and compute-intensive workloads.

The chip’s architecture is not subtle. We’re talking 192 cores and a L3 cache that’s five times larger than the previous generation, paired with higher networking and EBS bandwidth. For anyone running large-scale cloud operations, that translates into doing more work per dollar spent, which is the metric that actually matters.

What’s under the hood

Graviton5 powers Amazon’s new EC2 M9g and M9gd instances, with C9g (compute-optimized) and R9g (memory-optimized) instances also slated for release in 2026. The processor had been in preview since December 4, 2025, meaning enterprise customers have already been kicking the tires for months before this general availability rollout.

AWS claims Graviton5 offers 30-40% better price-performance overall. In English: you get meaningfully more compute per dollar compared to the alternatives. That’s distinct from raw performance gains, which sit at around 25%. The difference comes from the chip’s efficiency, since AWS designs these processors specifically for its own infrastructure rather than buying general-purpose silicon off the shelf.