Intel Launches New AI-Focused Xeon 6 Processor and Gaudi AI Accelerators

Intel recently unveiled new hardware aimed at improving artificial intelligence (AI) workflows. The company on Tuesday introduced the Xeon 6 processor with new Performance Cores (P-cores) and Gaudi 3 AI Accelerator for enterprise and data center customers. The chipmaker claims the new hardware will deliver both higher throughput and better cost optimization to enable optimal performance per watt and lower total cost of ownership. These devices were launched to enable enterprises to handle the ever-increasing workload demands of more advanced AI models, the chipmaker said.

Intel Xeon 6 processor launched

The chip maker say that the new Intel Xeon 6 is equipped with Performance cores. These processors are not intended for retail consumers, but will power enterprise data centers to help them run cloud servers.

Intel claims the Xeon 6 processor delivers twice the performance of its predecessor due to the increased core count. It also offers twice the memory bandwidth and AI acceleration capabilities.

Because it is hardware-based acceleration, it can easily support very large language models (LLMs). It can “meet the performance demands of AI from edge to data center and cloud environments,” according to Intel.

Intel Unveils Gaudi 3 AI Accelerators

Gaudi 3 is a new generation of AI Accelerator from Intel. These are specialized hardware chips designed to help machines accelerate AI tasks, particularly those related to deep learning, machine learning, and neural networks. These include GPUs, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and Neural Processing Units (NPUs).

The Gaudi 3 AI Accelerator features 64 Tensor processor cores and eight Matrix Multiplication Engines (MMEs) designed to accelerate deep neural network computations. It has 128GB of HBM2e memory for training and inference, and 24 200GB Ethernet ports that enable server scaling.

Intel’s new AI Accelerator is compatible with the PyTorch framework and advanced Hugging Face transformer and diffuser models. The company has already partnered with IBM to implement Gaudi 3 for IBM Clouds. Dell Technologies is also using the infrastructure for its data centers.