IBM Focuses on Simplified AI, Introduces New Chips, Servers

IBM's introduction of the new Power11 chips marks the first major update to its "Power" chip lineup since 2020 .

Traditionally, these chips have competed with products from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in data centers , particularly in specialized sectors such as financial services, manufacturing and healthcare, Reuters reports.

Like Nvidia’s AI servers, IBM’s Power Systems are an integrated suite of chips and software .

Tom McPherson, general manager of Power systems at IBM, told Reuters the company used this tight alignment to focus on reliability and security.

Power11 systems, available July 25, will not require any planned downtime for software updates, and their unplanned downtime over the course of a year averages just over 30 seconds , Reuters reports.

They are also designed to detect and respond within a minute to ransomware attacks , in which hackers encrypt data and then try to hold it ransom in exchange for the keys, IBM said.

In the fourth quarter of this year, IBM plans to integrate Power11 with Spyre, its AI chip introduced last year, Reuters wrote .

McPherson said IBM does not intend to compete with Nvidia in building and training AI systems , but is instead focusing on simplifying AI implementation to accelerate business tasks.

“We can seamlessly integrate AI capabilities to accelerate inference and help improve business processes,” McPherson said.