Intel intends to sell millions of Meteor Lake chips in 2024 – they will receive an AI accelerator VPU

Intel is preparing to release a new series of consumer processors. The manufacturer did not specify when exactly the new chips, codenamed Meteor Lake, will appear on the market, but shared some details about future updates at the Microsoft Build conference. Intel and Microsoft will bring new AI-powered features to PC users, including new multimedia features, as well as more efficient machine learning.

Image Source: Intel

In its official blog, the company confirmed that the new Meteor Lake chips for the first time will be equipped with a special neural engine VPU (Versatile Processing Unit). It will be part of a next generation processor and will be designed to run a variety of AI models with a high degree of power efficiency. The next-generation chips will use a decentralized rather than a monolithic design, allowing combinations of different chiplets based on different technological processes. The neural engine of the VPU will work in conjunction with the AI ​​acceleration blocks that have been found in Intel CPUs and GPUs for several generations of processors. As a result, as conceived by Intel, processors “Meteor Lake will play a critical role in shaping the future of PC innovation and capability for consumers and businesses across industries».

Intel notes that together, Meteor Lake and Windows 11 will scale across the ecosystem with the help of OEMs and ISVs. And for the developer community, whose role is very important for bringing the idea of ​​​​a large-scale implementation of AI to life, “Windows presents the perfect place to run AI models to reach a huge user base».

Intel is betting big on AI in its upcoming processors and has announced a collaboration with Microsoft to accelerate WinML/DirectML machine learning APIs on Windows 11 with this Neural VPU. The Meteor Lake architecture feature will also allow Intel and Microsoft to endow systems based on them with new AI-enabled multimedia features, such as automatic centering and scene editing detection in Adobe Premiere Pro. The VPU capabilities will also be used by the Windows Studio Effects software package, which includes elements such as background diffusion, an auto-scaling effect, and a noise reduction function.

Intel also said it plans to bring millions of Meteor Lake processors to market next year. “As Intel scales up future generations of products <..> hundreds of millions of people will be able to experience AI accelerated».