Intel wants to break out in the AI ​​chip race

Once a chip giant, Intel is now facing the risk of being acquired - Photo: AFP

But the question is whether Intel's new technologies can change the market or is it just a step too late for Intel? Once a company that specializes in "hunting" small companies, Intel has now become a target for acquisition after the Wall Street Journal revealed that Qualcomm wants to buy Intel.

Intel's efforts

The new Xeon 6 CPU and Gaudi 3 AI accelerator promise improved performance and power efficiency as Intel tries to prove it has what it takes to be a major player in AI.

Intel says the new Xeon 6 chips, with twice the performance cores of the previous generation, are built for AI, while the Gaudi 3 processors are designed specifically for generative AI applications and will compete directly with Nvidia's H100 series and AMD's MI300X.

Intel boasts that IBM is using Gaudi 3 accelerators in its IBM Cloud system. The company says Gaudi 3 speeds up AI training and is 1.5 times faster at running AI processes than Nvidia's NV 100 GPU. In addition, Intel's good price will also give it an advantage over its competitors' expensive chips.

Intel chips are no longer in demand as they once were. Instead, companies like Meta, Microsoft, and Google are vying to buy Nvidia’s AI chips, sending the company’s stock price soaring.

While Intel has lost money, with its stock price down 52%, Nvidia's stock has risen a staggering 142% this year, and AMD's stock has also risen 12% over the same period.

Both of Intel's rivals are planning major upgrades to their chip lines, and earlier this year Qualcomm even announced the Snapdragon X Plus line of AI chips for computers, encroaching on the field that Intel dominates, according to CNBC.

However, Mr. Kevin Surace, known as the "father" of virtual assistants and voice user interfaces, and also the chairman of technology company Token, believes that the AI ​​market will change.

"The market is hungry for alternatives to Nvidia's $40,000 H100 chip. Nvidia has a solid lead and a monopoly on GPUs for AI. That's about to change dramatically, and Intel's product is surprisingly powerful," he commented on Techopedia.

Meanwhile, Michal Oglodek, chief technology officer and co-founder of Ivy.ai, a leading provider of conversational AI chatbots, also said that Nvidia's challenge was inevitable. "It's no surprise that Intel is taking action. The competition is now at a full-scale level," he said.

Why is Intel being targeted?

But of course Qualcomm has also acted, as the Wall Street Journal recently reported that the giant is considering a possible takeover of Intel to strengthen its own chip business.

Although no figures have been given, given the two companies' positions in the chip market, this could be the largest merger in years and the most influential in the history of the world's technology industry.

Unlike its rivals, Intel not only designs but also manufactures chips and has been the world’s number one company in this field for decades. But this manufacturing segment of Intel has been facing many difficulties, losing billions of dollars and losing its position to Taiwanese rival TSMC in recent years.

However, Intel is the only US company that can produce chips at large scale while rivals Nvidia, Qualcomm, and AMD have to depend on suppliers in Taiwan.

Intel is currently waiting to revive its manufacturing sector thanks to the CHIPs Act passed under President Joe Biden, which considers chips not only as technology but also as a national security issue.

The company has received $8.5 billion this year and could borrow another $8.5 billion under the act. In mid-September 2024, Intel said it would spin off its struggling chip division into a subsidiary to take on orders like making custom AI chips for Amazon.

Is Intel’s Gaudi 3 AI chip a game-changer or too little, too late? The answer will be time, but Intel’s track record of innovation and scale are clearly formidable. “It’s still early in the AI ​​chip race, this is just the first round,” said Surace.

Intel in trouble

Intel reported worse-than-expected revenue and earnings per share in its latest quarterly earnings report in August 2024. The company lost more than $30 billion in market value after the report, raising concerns about its ability to catch up with rivals like TSMC, according to Reuters.

In addition, the company also plans to cut 15,000 jobs and reduce about two-thirds of its real estate worldwide by the end of this year.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/intel-muon-but-pha-trong-cuoc-dua-chip-ai-20240926075542979.htm