Qualcomm server chips now available to ARM developers through cloud service

Tangential thought here - I wonder if we'll ever get to the point that we're using processor designs in the cloud that we never get to own or see in person. It's considered the provider's business how they build their silicon and what's actually providing the service. The ISA is effectively considered their API.

Cloud providers are already known to use custom Xeon variants, and I can imagine a lot of people who use the new POWER9 instances that will supposedly be hitting google cloud platform some time soon would be people who wouldn't ordinarily have wanted to actually invest in purchasing a pricy POWER system...