Intel forms new company for enterprise generative AI

US chipmaker Intel, on Wednesday, announced the formation of an independent company Articul8 AI focused on enterprise generative AI. DigitalBridge Ventures, the venture initiative of DigitalBridge is the lead investor in Articul8; other investors  including Fin Capital, Mindset Ventures, Communitas Capital, GiantLeap Capital, GS Futures, and Zain Group have taken equity stake in the company.

Intel has not disclosed the value of the deal but has said that it would be a shareholder and that the firm will have an independent board of directors. Arun Subramaniyan, formerly vice president and general manager in Intel’s Data Center and AI Group will be Articul8’s CEO. Articul8 was created using the intellectual property and technology created at Intel. Articul8 offers a turnkey generative AI software platform for large enterprises to operationalise and scale AI. The platform has been built on Intel hardware architectures including Xeon processors and Gaudi accelerators, but it is designed to support  a range of hybrid infrastructure alternatives, Intel said.

The chipmaker said that it will remain  ‘strategically aligned’ with the new company for go-to-market opportunities and for generative AI adoption in enterprises. 

“With its deep AI and HPC domain knowledge and enterprise-grade GenAI deployments, Articul8 is well positioned to deliver tangible business outcomes for Intel and our broader ecosystem of customers and partners. As Intel accelerates AI everywhere, we look forward to our continued collaboration with Articul8," said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO.

As Subramaniyan goes on to take on the post of Articul8’s chief, he is replaced by Justin Hotard as executive vice president and general manager of its Data Center and AI Group (DCAI). Both the announcements were made on the same day. Hotard has an experience of over 20 years in computing and data center business. Most recently, Hotard served as executive vice president and general manager of High-Performance Computing, AI and Labs at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).