Arm hires Amazon AI exec to boost plans to build its own chips
has hired
Amazon
.com artificial intelligence chip director
Rami Sinno
to bolster its plans to develop its own complete chips, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Sinno was responsible for helping to develop Amazon's homegrown
AI chips
called Trainium and Inferentia that are designed to help build and run large AI applications.
Until now, Arm has not built its own chips. Instead, it designs the core architecture and instruction set for processors that it sells to customers. Chip designers like Apple and Nvidia use Arm technology in their chips.
In July, Arm disclosed plans to invest a portion of its profit into building its own chips and other components. CEO Rene Haas discussed the possibility of moving beyond designs and building chiplets - smaller, function-specific versions of a chip that are stitched together - and complete systems. The company, which is majority-owned by the
SoftBank Group
, collects royalty payments on the chips its customers sell. Arm-based devices power nearly every smartphone in the world and server chips based on its intellectual property have made significant inroads in the data center market long dominated by Advanced Micro Devices and Intel.
As part of a broad plan to increase its business, Arm has sought to expand beyond supplying crucial chip intellectual property to building its own complete designs. Reuters first reported on the company's plans outlined in sealed exhibits from a December trial, and its effort to hire executives from rivals in February.
In recent years, Arm has sought to bolster its teams focused on building complete chips and systems. The company has hired Nicolas Dube, an executive from HPE with large-scale systems design experience, and Steve Halter, a chip engineer from Intel and Qualcomm, as part of the effort, the person familiar with the matter said. Sinno's effort at Amazon was part of the company's effort to design chips that would be cheaper and offer superior performance to Nvidia's graphics processors used for AI work.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
United News of India
2 hours ago
- United News of India
Nvidia considering a ‘variety of products' for future as AI chip market competition soars: Reports
New Delhi, Aug 20 (UNI) Nvidia is considering a 'variety of products' for its future roadmap as more competitors are emerging in the AI chip market. Moreover, the development came after Trump's approval of sales expansion to the country. Reportedly, Nvidia could deliver its new chips for testing purposes to Chinese clients. As per the reports, the new chip will be more powerful compared to the predecessors and be based on the 'Blackwell architecture.' The 'Blackwell architecture' of Nvidia is the next-gen GPU technology specifically designed to foster the domains of generative AI and computing. Earlier on Tuesday, the sales of Nvidia fell approx 4 per cent amid heavy tech losses. But now they're slightly gripping the positive mark with the sales optimism in China. UNI SAS RN
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
4 hours ago
- Business Standard
Amazon to revamp Fire tablets with Android in major Kittyhawk project
As part of a project known internally as Kittyhawk, Amazon plans to release a higher-end tablet as soon as next year offering the Android operating system software for the first time Reuters Amazon is plotting a big change to its Fire tablet lineup following years of escalating gripes from consumers and app developers over the company's homegrown operating system. As part of a project known internally as Kittyhawk, Amazon plans to release a higher-end tablet as soon as next year offering the Android operating system software for the first time, according to six people familiar with the matter. Since the Fire tablet introduction in 2011, Amazon has used what is known as a forked version of Android with custom modifications that make it work like a unique operating system. Amazon has long sought to undercut hardware rivals with inexpensive tablets and other devices that serve as a doorway to the firm's digital content, like e-books, videos and music. The devices have typically sold at or near manufacturing cost. But the focus on simplicity has held back sales, particularly among consumers who seek higher-performing devices. The multiyear project to switch to Android marks a philosophical change for the online retail giant, which has eschewed third-party operating systems and software in favor of its own. As a result, Amazon has offered its own app store requiring developers to make separate versions of their apps for Fire tablets, limiting the stores variety. If Kittyhawk is successful, Fire tablets could be more desirable for consumers who crave compatibility with other Android devices, the people said. They cautioned that Kittyhawk could be delayed or cancelled over financial or other concerns. Consumers have always expressed a concern about not having access to the latest Android versions, not having access to some of their apps because Amazon used their own store, said Jitesh Ubrani, a researcher at IT advisory firm IDC. It's meant more work for developers in this day and age of largely free apps or services. Ubrani noted that Amazon has nonetheless sold many millions of the tablets. Amazon has forfeited profits on the devices themselves in favor of making money on selling their associated services, like streaming movie rentals. But such inexpensive devices typically come with compromises like lower screen quality or battery life compared with pricier options. Amazon is the world's fourth-largest tablet seller, with 8 per cent of the market, just behind Lenovo's 8.2 per cent, according to second-quarter IDC data. Apple and Samsung were the market leaders with 33.1 per cent and 18.7 per cent, respectively. PRICIER TABLET The first Amazon Android tablet, slated for next year, will be pricier than current models, the people said. One of them said Amazon had discussed a $400 price tag, nearly double the cost of its current higher-end $230 Fire Max 11 tablet. IPads, by comparison, range from $350 to $1,200. Reuters could not learn additional specifications for the planned Amazon tablet, such as screen size and speaker quality or memory capacity. Amazon historically has avoided using software or other products from third parties, preferring to develop the services in-house or, barring that, to acquire a competitor. The Fire Phone smartphone championed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and released in 2014 failed to win over buyers in part because of its reliance on Fire OS, as well as its high price tag. Amazon canceled the device and took a $170 million writedown. But the Seattle retailer has more recently shown a willingness to use rivals services, particularly through its investment in startup Anthropic, whose Claude artificial intelligence software is the primary underpinning of Amazon’s Alexa+ voice assistant and a chatbot used by employees known as Cedric. The new Fire tablet, the people said, will use the open-source version of Android, meaning it does not require direct coordination with Google and can be customized. Amazon is planning to roll out some lower-priced tablets with its Linux-based Vega operating system now in some Fire TV devices, some of the people said. The full slate of tablets will eventually be powered by a version of Android, the people said. The Fire project's internal code name of Kittyhawk seems to derive from the North Carolina town near where the Wright brothers conducted the first powered flight in 1903. But it is also the name of a failed flying car startup backed by Google co-founder Larry Page that burned through hundreds of millions in cash. Amazon declined to discuss the meaning behind its Kittyhawk project name.
Economic Times
4 hours ago
- Economic Times
Trump thinks owning piece of Intel would be good deal for US: Here's what to know
AP President Donald Trump wants the US government to own a piece of Intel, less than two weeks after demanding the Silicon Valley pioneer dump the CEO that was hired to turn around the slumping chipmaker. If the goal is realised, the investment would deepen the Trump administration's involvement in the computer industry as the president ramps up the pressure for more US companies to manufacture products domestically instead of relying on overseas suppliers. What's happening? The Trump administration is in talks to secure a 10 per cent stake in Intel in exchange for converting government grants that were pledged to Intel under President Joe Biden. If the deal is completed, the US government would become one of Intel's largest shareholders and blur the traditional lines separating the public sector and private sector in a country that remains the world's largest economy. Why would Trump do this? In his second term, Trump has been leveraging his power to reprogramme the operations of major computer chip companies. The administration is requiring Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, two companies whose chips are helping to power the craze around artificial intelligence, to pay a 15 per cent commission on their sales of chips in China in exchange for export licenses. Trump's interest in Intel is also being driven by his desire to boost chip production in the US, which has been a focal point of the trade war that he has been waging throughout the world. By lessening the country's dependence on chips manufactured overseas, the president believes the US will be better positioned to maintain its technological lead on China in the race to create artificial intelligence. Didn't Trump want Intel's CEO to quit? That's what the president said August 7 in an unequivocal post calling for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign less than five months after the Santa Clara, California, company hired him. The demand was triggered by reports raising national security concerns about Tan's past investments in Chinese tech companies while he was a venture capitalist. But Trump backed off after Tan professed his allegiance to the US in a public letter to Intel employees and went to the White House to meet with the president, who applauded the Intel CEO for having an "amazing story." Why would Intel do a deal? The company isn't commenting about the possibility of the US government becoming a major shareholder, but Intel may have little choice because it is currently dealing from a position of weakness. After enjoying decades of growth while its processors powered the personal computer boom, the company fell into a slump after missing the shift to the mobile computing era unleashed by the iPhone's 2007 debut. Intel has fallen even farther behind in recent years during an artificial intelligence craze that has been a boon for Nvidia and AMD. The company lost nearly USD 19 billion last year and another $3.7 billion in the first six months of this year, prompting Tan to undertake a cost-cutting spree. By the end of this year, Tan expects Intel to have about 75,000 workers, a 25% reduction from the end of last year. Would this deal be unusual? Although rare, it's not unprecedented for the US government to become a significant shareholder in a prominent company. One of the most notable instances occurred during the Great Recession in 2008 when the government injected nearly $50 billion into General Motors in return for a roughly 60% stake in the automaker at a time it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The government ended up with a roughly $10 billion loss after it sold its stock in GM. Would the government run Intel? US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC during a Tuesday interview that the government has no intention of meddling in Intel's business, and will have its hands tied by holding non-voting shares in the company. But some analysts wonder if the Trump administration's financial ties to Intel might prod more companies looking to curry favour with the president to increase their orders for the company's chips. What government grants does Intel receive? Intel was among the biggest beneficiaries of the Biden administration's CHIPS and Science Act, but it hasn't been able to revive its fortunes while falling behind on construction projects spawned by the programme. The company has received about $2.2 billion of the $7.8 billion pledged under the incentives programme - money that Lutnick derided as a "giveaway" that would better serve US taxpayers if it's turned into Intel stock. "We think America should get the benefit of the bargain," Lutnick told CNBC. "It's obvious that it's the right move to make." Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Swiggy, Tencent backer Prosus gets Rajinikanth fan to script India AI play India's F&O boom puts spotlight on retail protection through education Can new shipping laws bury the ghost of British legacy? As big fat Indian wedding slims to budget, Manyavar loses lustre Stock Radar: Bajaj Auto showing signs of reversal after falling over 30% from highs; medium term should 'buy the dip' F&O Radar | Deploy Bull Call Ladder in JSW Steel stock to benefit from bullish outlook Time for risk-takers to come out of hibernation? 5 mid-cap stocks from different sectors with an upside potential of up to 27% Buy, Sell or Hold: Motilal Oswal initiates coverage on JSW Cement; Emkay Global sees over 30% upside in Gravita India
