Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. Image: Intel Corporation
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich says the chip giant is deeply committed to unlocking the promise of AI.
Intel has invested more than $1bn to date in artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups via its Intel Capital arm, according to company CEO Brian Krzanich.
This includes investments in companies such as Mighty AI, DataRobot, Lumiata, AEye and others.
‘AI will make the impossible possible: advancing research on cancer, Parkinson’s disease and brain disorders; helping to find missing children; and furthering scientific efforts in climate change, space exploration and oceanic research’
– BRIAN KRZANICH
As well as investments, Intel has been pretty acquisitive in the AI start-up space, spending an estimated $16bn in recent years, the majority of which went into Israeli automotive tech player Mobileye, at $15.3bn.
A year ago, Intel acquired Irish chip company Movidius for an undisclosed sum, as well as Nervana.
Intel is hellbent on being the AI platform of choice
“At Intel, we have an optimistic and pragmatic view of AI’s impact on society, jobs and daily life that will mimic other profound transformations, from the industrial to the PC revolutions,” said Krzanich.
“Our belief is that AI will bring significant new opportunities to transform business – from retail to healthcare to manufacturing – and have an immensely positive impact on society.
“AI will make the impossible possible: advancing research on cancer, Parkinson’s disease and brain disorders; helping to find missing children; and furthering scientific efforts in climate change, space exploration and oceanic research.”
To drive AI innovation, Krzanich said that Intel is making strategic investments spanning technology, R&D, and partnerships with business, government, academia and community groups.
“We are deeply committed to unlocking the promise of AI; conducting research on neuromorphic computing, exploring new architectures and learning paradigms. We have also invested in start-ups like Mighty AI, DataRobot and Lumiata through our Intel Capital portfolio, and have invested more than $1bn in companies that are helping to advance artificial intelligence.
“I believe Intel will be the AI platform of choice, offering unmatched reliability, performance, security and integration. We are 100pc committed to creating the roadmap of optimised products to support emerging mainstream AI workloads.”
Krzanich said that the chip giant is aligning its products to meet the AI challenge, including new members of the Xeon processor line-up to cope with AI workloads and intensive deep learning, codenamed Lake Crest.
He added that Intel Mobileye products will include vision technologies for autonomous driving while Intel FPGAs will make programmable, deep-learning electronics a reality.
Intel Movidius technologies will enable machine learning at the edge. Recent products to emerge from Intel Movidius include a $79 AI stick that turns ordinary hardware into AI machines as well as a new breakthrough chip that makes machines think and see like humans.
Krzanich concluded: “AI is still in its infancy and, as this space evolves, we’ll continue to advance disruptive approaches in compute that support the complex workloads of today and tomorrow.”
