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, and are Intel's attempt to prove that it has what it takes to be a major player in the AI ​​space.

Intel says the new Xeon 6 chips, with twice the performance cores of the previous generation, are built for AI, while the Gaudi 3 processor is 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 its Gaudi 3 accelerator in its IBM Cloud. 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. Intel’s low price will also give it an advantage over its rivals’ expensive chips.

Intel’s chips are no longer in demand. Instead, companies like Meta, Microsoft, and Google are vying to buy Nvidia’s AI chips, sending the company’s stock 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, Kevin Surace, known as the "father" of virtual assistants and voice user interfaces and also chairman of technology company Token, believes 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 offering is surprisingly powerful,” he said on Techopedia.

Meanwhile, Michal Oglodek, CTO 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 takeover of Intel to strengthen its own chip business.

Although no figures have been released, 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 Intel’s manufacturing division has been struggling, losing billions of dollars and losing ground to Taiwanese rival TSMC in recent years.

However, Intel is the only US company that can produce chips at scale while rivals Nvidia, Qualcomm, and AMD have to rely 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,” Surace said.

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 following 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