Intel is taking bold strides in the AI-powered enterprise software market with the launch of Articul8 AI, a new platform company backed by Boca Raton, a Florida-based asset manager and investor.
The move reflects Intel's strategic push into the generative AI sector, emphasizing its commitment to delivering cutting-edge software products and services to rival competitors like Nvidia and AMD.
Articul8 AI emerges as a significant player in the industry, building on a proof-of-concept resulting from Intel's collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in May of the previous year.
According to TechCrunch, this collaborative effort involved the development of a generative AI system capable of reading text and images, utilizing Intel's hardware and a blend of open-source and internally sourced software.
The system was specifically designed to meet BCG's security requirements and was initially fine-tuned for their unique applications.
Initially, Boston Consulting Group served as the exclusive supplier and customer for the system.
However, over the last few months, Intel has been working to scale the platform, optimizing it for Intel hardware while ensuring compatibility with alternative solutions.
High-security and domain-savvy organizations in financial services, aerospace, semiconductors, telecommunications, and other areas are the target audience.
A Possible Game-Changer
Articul8 AI's enterprise-focused generative AI platform prioritizes deployment speed, scalability, security, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness.
The platform is designed to keep customer data, training, and inference within the enterprise security perimeter, offering flexibility with deployment options—whether cloud-based, on-premises, or hybrid.
Arun Subramaniyan, formerly a VP and GM at Intel's data center and AI group, is slated to become the CEO of Articul8 AI.
The team will predominantly consist of ex-Intel employees, and Intel will maintain an undisclosed stake in the newly formed entity.
Key investors in Articul8 AI include DigitalBridge, Fin Capital, Mindset Ventures, Communitas Capital, GiantLeap Capital, GS Futures, and Zain Group, per GVS.
Intel is aiming to leverage the enterprise-gen AI software internally and offer it to end customers through a joint go-to-market partnership.
The Intel-Articul8 AI collaboration is expected to boost consumption of Intel compute offerings and enable the chipmaker to harness Articul8's AI domain knowledge as it continues to expand its presence in the generative AI market.
Intel Expanding into the AI Field
Intel's launch of Articul8 AI is part of its broader strategy to secure external capital for business units, aligning with CEO Pat Gelsinger's comeback plan.
The major chipmaker has previously undertaken spinouts, including Mobileye and the sale of its memory chip division, as part of its capital-raising efforts.
Articul8 AI fits into Gelsinger's vision of delivering innovative software products and services, particularly GenAI-powered offerings, to make Intel hardware more appealing across diverse applications.
In light of Intel's recent launch of AI chips for data centers and PCs, the company is making substantial architectural shifts to position itself prominently in the AI sector.
Nasdaq reported that the move aligns with market dynamics, spanning cloud and enterprise servers, networks, volume clients, and edge environments.
Intel remains committed to its 5N4Y program, aiming to regain transistor performance and power performance leadership by 2025.
