The New Era of AI PCs Has Arrived! Intel Makes Big Moves
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On Thursday Eastern Time, Intel (45.69, -0.47, -1.02%) held a new product launch event titled 'AI Everywhere,' introducing AI chips for personal computers and data centers, aiming to capture a larger share of the booming AI hardware market. During the trading session, Intel's stock price surged by over 5.6% at one point, though it later narrowed to a 2.3% gain.
Intel stated that servers based on the new Xeon processors will be widely available in the first quarter of next year. These new processors offer improved performance and memory while consuming less power. Xeon is also the only mainstream data center processor with built-in AI acceleration capabilities.
Meanwhile, Intel's Core Ultra processors for laptops and desktops will enable personal computers to run AI applications directly. The Core Ultra features an AI acceleration engine, known as the Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which allows AI programs to run faster.
The Core Ultra cannot provide services like ChatGPT without an internet connection but can handle smaller tasks. It also includes enhanced gaming capabilities, with increased graphics processing power that can improve the performance of programs like Adobe Premier by over 40%.
Additionally, the AI chip Gaudi 3 may be Intel's most challenging new product, designed for deep learning and large generative AI models. According to Intel, Gaudi 3 outperforms Nvidia's AI chip H100.
Gaudi 3 and H100 are also referred to as AI accelerators, aiding AI companies in developing chatbots and other rapidly growing services. Gaudi 3 is scheduled for official release next year, at which point Nvidia will no longer dominate the AI chip market alone.
Currently, the most famous AI models, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, run on Nvidia chips. This is the primary reason Nvidia's stock has surged nearly 230% this year, while Intel's stock has risen by 68%.
The New Era of AI PCs
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger hopes to revitalize the company's business by capitalizing on the AI boom. Intel has been hit hard by past missteps and the broader downturn in the PC market. Meanwhile, long-time rival AMD (138.9, -0.25, -0.18%) has gained market share in both PCs and servers, and some of Intel's largest customers have begun designing their own chips.
In the AI accelerator space, AMD is also catching up to Nvidia, with its MI300X chip set to launch next year. AMD unveiled the chip at an event last week and projected that the AI accelerator market could surpass $400 billion over the next four years.
Intel aims to gain an edge by shifting more AI processing to devices rather than data centers. The new Core Ultra processors will help achieve this goal. On Thursday, Intel claimed that dozens of PC manufacturers are adopting its Core Ultra chips, hoping to attract consumers to upgrade their devices for the new era of AI PCs.
At the launch event, Gelsinger told the audience, "A few create AI models, but many use them." He added that due to the high costs of data centers, AI applications are more likely to run on PCs and other devices, as sending data over the internet limits system responsiveness.
Addressing concerns about AI software's power consumption, Intel stated that its fifth-generation Xeon processors offer significant improvements in performance and efficiency. Compared to the previous generation, they deliver an average 21% increase in general computing performance and a 36% boost in performance per watt across various customer workloads.
Gelsinger's goal is to reverse the company's decline and restore its prominence in the semiconductor industry. He believes the sector's sales will grow to $1 trillion by the end of the decade. On Thursday, Gelsinger assured the audience that his revitalization plan is working.