Ampere and Qualcomm join forces in data center chip market

Ampere Computing said on Thursday that it was pairing its chips with Qualcomm’s in a new offering designed to reduce the power bills related to operating artificial intelligence chips.

Introduction of Energy-Efficient Data Center Chips

Ampere, a startup founded by Renee James, a former president of Intel, has made significant strides in the chip industry by focusing on energy-efficient central processing chips using technology from Arm Holdings.

 These chips are used by major companies like Oracle and Alphabet’s Google. 

In a notable development, Ampere has partnered with Qualcomm to integrate their chips into a single data center server, marking a significant collaboration in the tech industry.

Qualcomm’s Expansion into AI Chips

Since 2019, Qualcomm, known for dominating the mobile phone chip market, has been working to penetrate the AI chip market for data centers with its own power-efficient solutions. 

The collaboration with Ampere represents a strategic move to enhance their offerings in this space. 

Jeff Wittich, Ampere’s chief product officer, highlighted the significance of this partnership, stating, “Treat this as … the first of the things that we’re working on.” He hinted at future, more ambitious projects that could emerge from this collaboration.

Also read: EXPLORING THE LEGACY OF PATEK PHILIPPE REFERENCE 2499

Strategic Positioning Against Nvidia

The joint Ampere-Qualcomm server solution is designed to efficiently run AI models after they have been trained, rather than competing directly with Nvidia, the current leader in AI training chips. 

However, both companies also indirectly compete with Nvidia, as AI chip systems often incorporate multiple types of chips. 

By working together, Ampere and Qualcomm aim to block potential rivals from gaining traction with their customers, as noted by Jim McGregor, founder of Tirias Research. “For both of these companies, it’s about keeping their competition out of the data center,” McGregor said.

Next-Generation Ampere CPU

In addition to their partnership with Qualcomm, Ampere announced the upcoming release of the next generation of its central processing unit. 

This new chip will feature 256 processing cores, a significant increase from the current 192 cores. 

Scheduled for release next year, the new chip will be manufactured using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s advanced 3-nanometer process, promising further improvements in performance and energy efficiency.

Conclusion

The collaboration between Ampere and Qualcomm represents a strategic alliance aimed at enhancing their competitive edge in the data center market. 

By integrating their energy-efficient chips, both companies are poised to offer compelling solutions that address the growing demand for efficient AI model execution. 

As they continue to innovate and expand their product lines, Ampere and Qualcomm are well-positioned to challenge industry leaders and carve out a significant share of the data center chip market.