Intel announced a new lineup of computer chips on Thursday, including Gaudi3, a chip designed for generative AI software. Gaudi3 will compete with Nvidia and AMD’s chips that power large and complex AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said at a launch event in New York that generative AI was the “star of the show” for 2023, and that Intel’s new Core Ultra processors, which also include a specialized AI part, would be the “star of the show” for 2024.
The Core Ultra chips are aimed at Windows laptops and PCs, and offer better gaming and graphics performance. They are built using Intel’s 7-nanometer process, which is more power efficient than earlier chips.
Intel also unveiled its fifth-generation Xeon server chips, which are used by cloud companies and other large organizations. The Xeon chips have an edge in inferencing, or the process of deploying an AI model, which is less power hungry than the training process.
Intel has been building Gaudi chips since 2019, when it bought a chip developer called Habana Labs. Gaudi3 will start shipping to customers in 2024, and will face competition from Nvidia’s H100 and AMD’s MI300X, which are the main choices for powering AI applications.