Recently, SuperMicro Semiconductor (AMD) on Tuesday unveiled a new generation of processors that are designed to power the core of AI-enabled personal computers (AI PCs) in a bid to take the lead in the AI PC space against competitors such as Nvidia and Intel.AI PCs are personal computers equipped with processors designed specifically to perform AI tasks such as real-time translation and content summarization, among others.
AMD has touted these processors as the most powerful chips in commercial PCs to date. The Ryzen Pro 8040 series is designed for laptops, while the Ryzen Pro 8000 series is designed for desktops. All of these processors utilize advanced get 4-nanometer manufacturing process technology.
AMD said in a press release that it expects these new processors to be available in PC models from brands like HP and Lenovo from the second quarter of 2024. And, AMD's new chips will compete with AI PC chips designed by NVIDIA and Intel.
Like Nvidia, AMD doesn't produce its own chips, choosing instead to outsource chip manufacturing to TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker. TSMC is currently producing chips with a 3-nanometer process and plans to begin mass production of chips with a 2-nanometer process in 2025. Typically, the smaller the nanometer process size, the more powerful and energy-efficient the chips made.
Back in January, AMD announced its next-generation Ryzen 8000G series of desktop processors, which are capable of delivering massive power and superior performance for intense workloads including gaming and content creation. The 8000G series processors utilize a 4-nanometer process technology.
Both AMD and Intel have high praise for the AI PC, believing it represents a new era for the industry. Last year, the AI space experienced an explosion following the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022.AMD's president said that the market for AI PCs will continue to expand and is expected to accelerate in popularity in the second half of 2024
Major chipmakers are currently racing to introduce more efficient and powerful chips to meet the demands of AI applications.
Nvidia released new graphics processing units (GPUs) in early January for running generative AI applications on PCs made by companies such as Acer, Dell and Lenovo.
Intel unveiled its Core Ultra family of chips in December, designed to deliver AI capabilities to PCs. The company claimed that these processors will be embedded in the world's first batch of more than 230 AI PCs, manufactured by companies such as Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo.
Gartner, a US-based consulting firm, estimates that AI personal computers (AI PCs) will account for 22 percent of all PCs shipped by 2024. The research firm expects 54.5 million AI PCs to be shipped by the end of the year.
"The rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) capabilities and AI processors on devices will eventually become a standard requirement for technology vendors," said analysts at Goldner's senior director.
However, the analysts also noted that this could pose a challenge for vendors as they will face difficulties in "differentiating themselves from competitors" and increasing revenue.
