Google and Intel announced an expanded multiyear partnership on Thursday, wherein Google Cloud will continue to utilize Intel's AI infrastructure and co-develop processors.
Under the agreement, Google Cloud will deploy Intel's Xeon processors, including the latest Xeon 6 chips, for its AI, cloud, and inference workloads. Google has been a long-standing user of Intel's Xeon processors for decades.
The companies are also set to expand their joint development of custom Infrastructure Processing Units (IPUs). These IPUs are designed to accelerate and manage data center tasks by offloading them from CPUs. This chip development partnership, which commenced in 2021, will specifically focus on custom ASIC-based IPUs.
This partnership expansion comes at a time when the industry faces high demand for CPUs. While GPUs are critical for the development and training of AI models, CPUs are indispensable for executing AI models and form the backbone of general AI infrastructure.
Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan stated in a company press release: "AI is reshaping how infrastructure is built and scaled. Scaling AI requires more than accelerators — it requires balanced systems. CPUs and IPUs are central to delivering the performance, efficiency and flexibility modern AI workloads demand."
In recent months, as a global chip shortage persists, more companies have shifted their focus to CPUs. For instance, SoftBank-owned Arm Holdings recently unveiled the Arm AGI CPU, marking the semiconductor giant's first self-produced chip, amidst the worldwide crunch for CPUs.