Intel hopes to launch an ecosystem of 100 million PCs packed with AI capabilities thanks to its new Intel Core Ultra CPUs combined with a newly announced AI acceleration program.
The chip maker is working with hardware and software vendors, including Adobe, Webex and Zoom, to maximize the potential of the Intel Core Ultra chips, which were announced in September. These will be the first chips released to the consumer market with special built-in neural processing units (NPUs).
With the AI Acceleration Program, Intel will connect hardware and software vendors with a suite of Intel resources, including AI toolchains, co-engineering, hardware design resources, technical expertise and co-marketing capabilities.
Intel brings AI to the consumer market
“Intel recognizes that software leadership is key to the AI PC experience, and we are uniquely positioned to lead the industry with an open ecosystem approach,” said Michelle Johnston Holthaus, executive VP and GM of Client Computing Group at Intel. “
With a long history in AI development and a deep network of ISV engineering relationships, Intel will play an active role in fostering connections and innovations that propel new use cases and experiences on the PC.”
Intel’s Core Ultra chips – codenamed Meteor Lake – will launch in December and feature a multi-chiplet module (MCM) design. This is a significant design change for the company and represents the first step in bringing AI to the computing masses.
The goal of this program is to accelerate the pace of AI development in the computing industry by increasing the availability of software powered by AI and machine learning.
Over time, tomorrow’s PCs will give people the tools to improve efficiency and be more creative with AI. These devices will be equipped with the best CPUs, the best GPUs, and now NPUs to optimize performance and deliver energy efficiency for running AI software.
Software companies will have access to Intel’s engineering talent to optimize their programs with tools such as OpenVINO, the open source toolkit for optimizing and deploying AI inference. The software partners write includes audio effects, content creation, gaming, security, streaming, video collaboration and more.