Intel Says Dozens of PC Makers Are Using Its New AI-Enabled Chip

 A smartphone with a displayed Intel logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. (Reuters)
A smartphone with a displayed Intel logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. (Reuters)
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Intel Says Dozens of PC Makers Are Using Its New AI-Enabled Chip

 A smartphone with a displayed Intel logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. (Reuters)
A smartphone with a displayed Intel logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. (Reuters)

Intel on Thursday said that dozens of personal computer makers are using its newest chip, as the company and its customers try to entice consumers to upgrade their machines for a new era of chatbots.

At a press event in New York, Intel said the new offering will be available in laptops from Dell Technologies, Microsoft, Lenovo Group and others that will go on sale on Thursday at Best Buy in the US and other global retailers including China's JD.com and Australia's Harvey Norman.

Intel shares rose as much as 3.6% after the news.

Intel's central processor units (CPUs) have long served as the brains of most personal computers. But the new chip that went by the code name "Meteor Lake" is Intel's first that will also contain what is called a neural processing unit (NPU), a section of the chip dedicated to handling artificial intelligence tasks.

Intel's pitch to consumers and businesses comes as it is fighting its way out of a post-pandemic PC slump where buyers who upgraded to work from home in 2020 have seen little reason to buy new equipment.

Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said during the event that Intel believes using its chips will make AI services cheaper, faster and more private than using services based in cloud data centers.

"That will be the star of the show in this coming year," Gelsinger said of AI on PCs. "You're unleashing this power for every person, every use case, every location in the future."

During a demonstration of the new chip in September, the company showed some examples of AI work that it hoped would spur interest, such as transcribing voice notes without having to send data to a third-party cloud provider or generating a song in the style of pop star Taylor Swift.

Intel on Thursday also showed what it said was the first working version of a chip called Gaudi 3, which it hopes will challenge Nvidia in the data center AI market.



Apple Names Insider Sabih Khan as COO

The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)
The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)
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Apple Names Insider Sabih Khan as COO

The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)
The Apple logo is seen on the Apple store at The Marche Saint Germain in Paris, France July 15, 2020. (Reuters)

Apple on Tuesday named insider Sabih Khan as its chief operating officer, taking over from Jeff Williams, as part of a long-planned succession.

Khan, who has been with Apple for 30 years and is currently the senior vice president of operations, will take on the new role later this month, the iPhone maker said in a statement.

Before joining Apple's procurement group in 1995, he worked as an applications development engineer and key account technical leader at GE Plastics.

Williams will continue to report to CEO Tim Cook and oversee the company's design team and Apple Watch.

The design team will report directly to Cook after Williams retires late in the year.