Intel Gaudi 3 Chip Takes Center Stage at Vision 2024 Event, Promising to Disrupt Nvidia’s Market Supremacy

The tech industry is witnessing a fierce battle for dominance in the AI chip market. On Tuesday, at the highly anticipated Vision 2024 event in Phoenix,  Intel made a pivotal announcement. The tech giant unveiled its latest creation, the Intel Gaudi 3 AI accelerator chip, specifically designed to compete with Nvidia’s ruling H100 chip.

Intel New AI Chip vs. Nvidia

With an emphasis on addressing the growing demand for high-performance AI computing solutions, the Intel Gaudi 3 chip boasts remarkable advancements in speed and efficiency, particularly in handling large language models (LLMs) crucial for AI applications like ChatGPT. The company boldly asserts that the Gaudi 3 chip outperforms Nvidia’s H100, a renowned data center GPU, by a staggering 50% margin in both training and inference tasks.

Gaudi 3 boasts impressive performance:

• Faster Training: Intel claims Gaudi 3 delivers 50% faster training times for large language models than Nvidia’s H100.
• Enhanced Inference: The chip also excels in running trained models (inference), showcasing a 50% speed increase for specific models during Intel’s tests.
• Power Efficiency: Data centers prioritize power efficiency, and Intel highlights Gaudi 3’s 40% greater power efficiency for specific tasks than the H100.

Gaudi 3: Designed for Openness

Intel’s strategic move to challenge Nvidia’s dominance comes amidst ongoing shortages of AI accelerator chips, including Nvidia’s H100, which have posed significant challenges for tech companies and AI researchers. These shortages have prompted industry giants like Microsoft, Meta, and OpenAI to explore alternative solutions, increasing interest in custom AI accelerator chip designs.

The presentation of the Gaudi 3 chip marks Intel’s proactive response to this industry demand for choice and innovation. Using advanced semiconductor fabrication technology from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Intel has engineered the Gaudi 3 chip to deliver unparalleled performance and efficiency. 

Featuring two main processor chips fused together, the Gaudi 3 chip uses the power of TSMC’s 5nm process, enabling it to achieve speeds more than twice as fast as its forerunner.

Intel emphasizes an “open approach” with Gaudi 3, catering to customers seeking alternatives in the AI chip market currently dominated by Nvidia. This strategy could be appealing to businesses seeking more options and potentially lower costs.

Technical Specs of Gaudi 3

Notably, Intel’s Gaudi 3 chip underscores the company’s commitment to offering competitive pricing without compromising on performance. By incorporating HBM2e memory technology, Intel aims to strike a balance between performance and cost-effectiveness, setting itself apart from competitors utilizing more expensive memory solutions. To be more precise:

• Manufactured using TSMC’s 5nm process technology.
• Features two processing chips for increased performance.
• Delivers double the performance of its forerunner, Gaudi 2.
• Designed for scalability, enabling connection with thousands of other chips for immense computing power.

Looking Ahead: Intel Gaudi 3 Release Date

It is expected to be available to server manufacturers like Supermicro and Hewlett Packard Enterprise in the second quarter of 2024.

While Gaudi 3 takes aim at the current leader, Nvidia is known for its powerful upcoming chips like the Blackwell B200. The next generation of Intel’s Gaudi chip, codenamed Falcon Shores, remains a point of interest, hinting at Intel’s continuous innovation in the AI chip space.

Intel Stocks Forecast

As Intel positions itself as a tough challenger to Nvidia’s dominance, investors are closely monitoring the implications for both companies’ stocks. While Nvidia has historically enjoyed strong analyst support and market favorability, Intel’s strategic initiatives, bolstered by recent $8.5 billion funding from the CHIPS Act and potential cost competitiveness with Gaudi 3, could be factors for future growth.