News｜Intel launches Gaudi 3 AI chip to challenge Nvidia's leadership

Intel recently introduced its Gaudi 3 AI chip, which appears to be the company's answer to Nvidia's H100 graphics processing unit (GPU), as more tech companies focus on building chips that can use large AI technologies.

The Gaudi 3 chip is essentially an accelerator chip that is primarily used to aid in the training of AI systems, specifically by sorting through piles of data. Another key feature of the chip is expected to be software to help operations get done. The chip is based on a 5-nanometer process, which is still considered fairly new technology in the market. It can also deploy models such as Stable Diffusion, a deep learning program, and OpenAI's voice recognition model, Whisper.

The Gaudi 3 chip is more than twice as energy efficient as Nvidia's H100 GPU and can run AI models 1.5 times faster. Other features include many different Settings, such as a motherboard with eight Gaudi 3 chips. Not only that, Intel's new chips are more power-efficient than Nvidia's.

Intel has previously released other versions of Gaudi chips. However, these people did not see the success the company was expecting, so the latest version was introduced. The company has completed testing of Gaudi 3 chips on various models, such as Falcon, which makes super-powerful language models and generative large language models. The chip was also tested on Llama, Meta's open source large-scale language model. The Gaudi 3 chip is expected to go on sale in the third quarter of this year, although the price range has not yet been announced.

Can Intel challenge Nvidia?

Currently, Nvidia is the clear leader in the semiconductor race, controlling about 80 percent of the AI chip space. This is mainly achieved through its extensive graphics processing units, which are very popular in the market. In addition, Nvidia also has a number of high-end suppliers such as Samsung and Sk Hynix. According to CNBC, Intel Xeon software vice president Darth Kamhout said of Nvidia's new chip: "We do expect it to be very competitive. Judging by our competitive pricing, our unique open integrated chip network, we use industry-standard Ethernet. We believe it's a powerful product."

Intel is also a strong contender in the cheap chip market, and its processors are especially highly regarded for single-threaded applications and gaming. Intel also plans to start making AI chips for other companies. The company has been building a new plant in Ohio that is likely to begin operations in 2027 or 2028. As the AI boom grows, several manufacturers, such as AMD, have also been looking to expand their share of the chip market. This trend is likely to intensify, especially after the recent earthquake in Taiwan raised concerns about the potential for chip supply disruptions, at least in the short term. Intel shares rose 0.92 percent to $38,33 at Tuesday's U.S. close, while Nvidia shares fell 2.04 percent to $853,54.