U.S. hardware export restrictions haven’t just hurt NVIDIA. Indeed, they affect all manufacturers, Intel included. To adapt to these restrictions, the company is preparing new hardware in line with these sanctions. This will take the form of Gaudi2C!
Gaudi2C, Intel’s response to US sanctions?
This new chip has simply been spotted in a driver for Linux 6.8. Unfortunately, there’s not much information available about it, so it’s all supposition. However, it’s not impossible that this version, which carries the PCI 3 ID, is actually a variant of Gaudi2B with fewer interconnect links, all based on the Gaudi 2 HL225B. This variant would enable Intel to comply with U.S. sanctions.
Yes, the original Gaudi2 chip is subject to sanctions, making it impossible to export it to China. Intel has no choice but to adapt its hardware in order to benefit from revenues from the Middle Kingdom.
As a reminder, Intel’s Gaudi chip series is designed for AI inference workloads. At present, Gaudi2 is already widely distributed in Europe and the United States, while Intel is working on finalizing Gaudi3. This new-generation chip is expected to quadruple BF16 performance, and should arrive sometime next year.