Forward of Computex 2023, which kicks off on Could thirtieth in Taiwan, Intel has teased its upcoming Meteor Lake chips, which is able to focus closely on AI.
Due out later this yr, Meteor Lake chips would be the firm’s first on its ‘Intel 4’ course of. Intel 4 is the brand new title for Intel’s 7nm course of, which is able to mark a number of vital shifts for the corporate, such because the transfer to excessive ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Opponents TSMC and Samsung already use EUV for his or her chips.
Furthermore, Intel previously said that in comparison with the Intel 7 (third-gen 10nm course of), Intel 4 can hit both 21.5-percent higher clock speeds with the identical quantity of energy or obtain the identical speeds whereas utilizing 40 p.c much less energy.
Whereas it stays to be seen if Intel 4 lives as much as that, energy effectivity is without doubt one of the two principal focuses of Meteor Lake. The opposite focus? AI.
Throughout a press briefing, Intel highlighted that its new Meteor Lake chips will boast next-gen energy administration, built-in Arc graphics and a brand new built-in AI engine.
The built-in Arc GPU is especially attention-grabbing. Arc, for these unfamiliar, is the branding for Intel’s new discrete line of GPUs. However with Meteor Lake, it appears Intel’s packing a few of what it discovered from Arc right into a low-power built-in graphics system. Intel highlighted gaming efficiency but in addition recommended it’d be helpful for compute-heavy AI purposes. Finally, it stays to be seen how the graphics carry out in real-world testing as soon as Meteor Lake is obtainable.
Meteor Lake chips may also sport a imaginative and prescient processing unit (VPU) for — you guessed it — AI purposes. One instance Intel used was powering sustained workloads like blurring the background in a video name.
Based on Intel, the VPU can allow a number of new options, like auto-tracking, eye contact, avatar illustration and gesture recognition, in addition to enhance present options like extra precisely blurring the background and Dynamic Noise Suppression. Furthermore, Meteor Lake’s VPU will have the ability to do that whereas utilizing considerably much less energy.
Intel careworn that its efforts to enhance AI efficiency with on-device {hardware} gained’t essentially work for every thing, however the firm is placing a variety of effort into scaling AI and increasing instruments for builders. Plus, the corporate talked concerning the potential of a hybrid mannequin that balances on-device capabilities with cloud-based AI.
Meteor Lake chips seem like shaping as much as supply higher efficiency, energy effectivity and AI instruments. It’ll be attention-grabbing to see how all this performs out in real-world efficiency, but when Intel can transfer the needle on energy effectivity, it may very well be an enormous win for the corporate.
Picture credit score: Intel
