Intel has unveiled a new version of its artificial intelligence chip, Gaudi 3, at its Vision event on Tuesday. The new chip aims to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in the semiconductors that power AI. The scarcity of chips needed for AI has tech companies searching for alternative sources. Intel claims that the Gaudi 3 chip can train a specific large language model 50% more quickly than Nvidia’s prior-generation processor. It is also capable of computing generative AI responses, also known as inference, more quickly than the previous generation of chips for some of the models tested.
Intel’s vice president of strategy and product management, Jeni Barovian, said that their customers are demanding an open approach and a choice in the industry. Intel has struggled with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to produce a compelling bundle of chips and software necessary to build AI applications that can compete with Nvidia.
According to reports, Nvidia controlled roughly 83% of the data center chip market in 2023, with Google’s custom tensor processing units (TPUs) holding the majority of the remaining 17% share. However, Intel’s Gaudi 3 chip, built using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s 5nm process, incorporates two main processor chips fused, making it more than twice as fast as its predecessor. It is designed to be strung together with thousands of others, generating an enormous amount of computing power.
Supermicro and Hewlett Packard Enterprise will have access to the Gaudi 3 chip in the second quarter of this year. The next generation of Gaudi chips will be code-named Falcon Shores.
