Jaguar Shores: Intel’s New AI Chip Takes on Nvidia and AMD | Gpu example | Gpu hardware laptop | Hardware examples | Turtles AI

Intel has revealed the name of its next AI chip, "Jaguar Shores," which is expected to succeed the Falcon Shores, a GPU designed for AI applications. The announcement was made during a technical workshop at the SC2024 conference, but many details are still unknown. Despite financial difficulties, the company continues to develop AI solutions to compete with giants Nvidia and AMD.

Key points:

• Jaguar Shores represents Intel’s next-generation AI chip, the successor to Falcon Shores. 
• The chip could be a GPU or an ASIC, but no official details have been provided. 
• Intel is in financial trouble but continues to bet on AI, with a focus on AI inference. 
• Competition with Nvidia and AMD remains strong, with the latter dominating the AI ​​GPU space.

Intel recently revealed the name of a new AI chip in its roadmap: Jaguar Shores. This new component represents a major evolution for the company, as it is the successor to the Falcon Shores GPU, which is scheduled for release in 2025. The announcement came relatively unexpectedly during a technical workshop at the SC2024 conference, where the Gaudi chips from Habana Labs, Intel’s AI-focused division, were also unveiled. While the company didn’t reveal many details, this was the first public reference to Jaguar Shores, a sign that the company is actively planning new developments to address growing competition in the AI ​​space, particularly from Nvidia and AMD.

The Jaguar Shores name, however, has not been officially confirmed as belonging to a GPU or ASIC, but Intel’s naming convention suggests that it could be a new generation of GPUs, intended to compete in the AI ​​space. Intel hasn’t made any official statements on the matter, but the Jaguar Shores design is expected to evolve from that of the Falcon Shores, which integrates a similar approach to the previous Gaudi chip, specializing in AI inference rather than model training, a market dominated by Nvidia with its powerful A100 and H100 GPUs. Intel, unfortunately, has been late to this sector and has had to deal with a significant loss of ground compared to its rivals.

In fact, the company has seen its market share in the field of AI GPUs shrink, so much so that in 2023 it had to abandon the Rialto Bridge project, a GPU that was supposed to become the successor to the Ponte Vecchio. This decision has attracted criticism, especially from industry partners such as the Barcelona Supercomputer Center, which had planned to use this technology in the Marenostrum 5 supercomputer. Despite this, Intel has decided to focus on Falcon Shores and Jaguar Shores, two chips that aim to fill the gap in the AI ​​inference sector, with the aim of expanding its scope of action beyond traditional computing solutions, such as Xeon CPUs, and diversifying its offering.

Meanwhile, Intel is also facing serious financial difficulties, including the announcement of a drastic job reduction plan, which includes the dismissal of 15,000 employees. Despite these difficulties, the company has stated that Falcon Shores, and therefore Jaguar Shores, are safe from these cuts. The AI ​​chip roadmap therefore remains a priority, with a particular focus on designing solutions for AI inference in the enterprise and economic sectors. Intel CEO Gelsinger recently indicated that the company will focus on a more targeted approach, developing custom solutions that integrate chips with x86 processors, but competition is fierce. Nvidia and AMD continue to dominate the AI ​​GPU market, while Intel has yet to make decisive moves to gain ground.

The company is trying to align its launch timing with new production nodes, in particular focusing on the 18A technology, which promises to improve chip efficiency thanks to innovations such as RibbonFET and backside power delivery. It is not clear whether Falcon Shores, or its evolution Jaguar Shores, will be produced internally by Intel or outsourced to TSMC, as has happened with other recent projects, but expectations are high. In this regard, the company hopes to gain a competitive advantage, in particular with the Clearwater Forest, a server chip that will be made with the 18A process and expected for next year.

The evolution of Jaguar Shores is closely linked to the company’s strategic choices. While Gaudi chips, for example, are designed for AI inference and more specialized workloads, Jaguar Shores could mark a new era for Intel, offering innovative solutions that could put it back in the game with Nvidia and AMD, at least in the inference sector. The key to success will be chip design and manufacturing capabilities, as the company aims to increase customization of its hardware solutions. However, Intel will have to deal with growing demand for increasingly powerful and scalable solutions, while competitors Nvidia and AMD prepare to launch new GPUs for AI until 2027.

Jaguar Shores is a demonstration of Intel’s commitment to AI, but also of the challenges the company will have to overcome to compete with the giants of the sector.