On Wednesday, Intel unveiled a new, faster family of processor chips for PCs and announced that the supercomputer it is helping the U.S. government build will double the previously predicted speeds.
Intel is reclaiming its lead in the manufacture of the fastest computing chips after being dwarfed by rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices and Apple, both of which use external partners to manufacture their chips, as Intel has faced challenges with its internal manufacturing operations.
The tech giant revealed versions of its 12th-generation Intel Core chips for PCs known as Alder Lake, which includes 60 different chips for 500 PC models from different manufacturers, from thin laptops to larger machines used by gamers.
Intel plans to ship 28 versions of the chip to PC makers, with “broad availability” starting November 4.
The technology giant also announced the Aurora, a supercomputer built by Intel in conjunction with the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory for artificial intelligence in suburban Chicago.
It will be twice as fast as originally planned and will surpass 2 exaflops, meaning the ability to perform 2 quintillion – or 2,000,000,000,000,000,000 – calculations per second.
The company had previously promised to deliver the $500 million computers with an exaflop performance later this year, but production delays forced it to postpone the launch until 2022.