From left: SigOpt co-founders Scott Clark and Patrick Hayes. Image: SigOpt
It’s hoped that the combination of SigOpt’s AI scaling software and Intel’s hardware will give Intel competitive advantages in emerging tech.
San Francisco’s SigOpt is being acquired by Intel for an undisclosed sum.
SigOpt’s platform enables the optimisation of artificial intelligence (AI) software models at scale. Its present customer base includes Fortune 500 companies across different industries, as well as leading research institutions, universities and consortiums.
With this acquisition, Intel plans to use SigOpt’s software across its own AI hardware products to accelerate and grow its AI offerings to developers.
Intel hopes to drive increased AI adoption by combining its hardware with SigOpt’s software technologies. In doing so, Intel aims to optimise its hardware performance and provide tools to speed up AI workflow processes, and build a consistent experience for developers with OneAPI.
‘Combining our AI optimisation software with Intel’s decades-long leadership in AI computing and machine learning performance, we will be able to unlock entirely new AI capabilities’
– SCOTT CLARK
“In the new intelligence era, AI is driving the compute needs of the future. It is even more important for software to automatically extract the best compute performance while scaling AI models,” said Intel SVP Raja Koduri, who serves as chief architect and general manager of the company’s architecture, graphics and software unit.
“SigOpt’s AI software platform and data science talent will augment Intel software, architecture, product offerings and teams, and provide us with valuable customer insights.”
The acquisition is part of Intel’s AI strategy and the company estimates that the AI silicon market will be worth more than $25bn by 2024.
‘It is even more important for software to automatically extract the best compute performance while scaling AI models’
– RAJA KODURI
Scott Clark, CEO and co-founder of SigOpt, said the company is excited to join Intel and “supercharge our mission to accelerate and amplify the impact of modellers everywhere”.
“By combining our AI optimisation software with Intel’s decades-long leadership in AI computing and machine learning performance, we will be able to unlock entirely new AI capabilities for modellers,” he said.
The companies are expected to close the deal in this quarter. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but what is known is that the team at SigOpt – including Clark and his fellow co-founder Patrick Hayes – will join the machine learning performance team under Koduri.
Additionally, SigOpt’s software will continue to be available to data scientists and developers.
