Avoiding US sanctions
Intel decided to follow in the footsteps of Nvidia and release a stripped-down version of its AI accelerator for China. The company reportedly recently introduced a special modification of Gaudi 2 for the Chinese market, which will not be subject to fresh US sanctions.
Intel introduced a stripped-down version of the Gaudi 2 accelerator for AI
In this version of the accelerator, the scalable interconnect is cut, which somewhat limits the performance of AI servers based on Gaudi 2. Nvidia did about the same with its A800 accelerator.
Previously, Intel itself demonstrated the capabilities of Gaudi 2, where the accelerator could compete with the Nvidia A100 and even the H100, but what the stripped-down version is capable of is unclear. However, the demand for accelerators for AI is so great that, probably, the new Intel will be bought regardless of comparison with Nvidia solutions.
