Intel's Vision for AI Chips in 2025
In an attempt to stay competitive against Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) Inc., Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) disclosed exciting specifics about an artificial intelligence (AI) chip it aims to launch in 2025. The revelations, made at a supercomputing conference in Germany, included plans for its upcoming "Falcon Shores" chip to address the growing need for more robust AI chips.
Falcon Shores: The Powerhouse of AI Computing
Intel's "Falcon Shores" chip is poised to be a game-changer in the AI chip industry. Its impressive technical specs include 288 gigabytes of memory and the ability to support 8-bit floating-point computation. Such advanced capabilities are paramount in the current landscape, where artificial intelligence models such as ChatGPT have grown substantially. Businesses constantly hunt for more powerful chips to run these ever-growing AI models.
Intel's Countermove Against Nvidia and AMD
This development from Intel comes as the first significant move in a strategic pivot to regain ground lost to industry leader Nvidia and rising contender AMD. Nvidia currently dominates the AI chip market, with AMD poised to challenge this dominance with the upcoming MI300 chip. On the other hand, Intel has faced a setback after its intended Nvidia rival, the Ponte Vecchio chip, experienced years of delays.
Intel's AI Performance Claims and Future Plans
Despite the setbacks, Intel is bullish about its prospects. The company announced that it has nearly concluded shipments for Argonne National Lab's Aurora supercomputer based on the previously delayed Ponte Vecchio. Intel claims that Ponte Vecchio outperforms Nvidia's newest AI chip, the H100. However, the successor to Ponte Vecchio, Falcon Shores, isn't expected to hit the market until 2025 - a timeframe within which Nvidia will likely have another chip in the race.
Rethinking Chip Strategy: Words from Intel's Corporate VP
Jeff McVeigh, corporate vice president of Intel's super compute group, spoke candidly about the company's new direction. He revealed that the company is rethinking the chip after abandoning its prior strategy of merging graphics processing units (GPUs) with central processing units (CPUs). McVeigh emphasized the need for flexibility at the platform level to choose both the ratio and the vendors rather than hoping for one vendor to have the best combination at any given time.
