Intel Sees Glass as a Vital Material in the Race to Power AI

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Intel Corp. is betting on an unexpected material to help the world's computers handle ever-growing artificial intelligence workloads: glass. As processors become larger and more complex, their ability to communicate with the rest of the computer is going to become a chokepoint, according to Intel researchers. Glass-based substrates, which sit between the chip and connecting components, are the answer to this challenge, the company says.

For Intel, a chip pioneer that's now chasing Nvidia Corp. for the limelight, the new approach is a chance to show off its ability to innovate for an AI world — and win new customers in the process. The company has ramped up R&D spending to nearly $18 billion a year, well more than peers.

Intel's glass push is coming from its packaging research and production facilities, a little-known part of its technology lineup. The Santa Clara, California-based company is trying to raise the profile of the business, part of a broader effort to attract customers to its manufacturing operations.

Since Intel was founded in the late 1960s, its factories have concentrated on almost exclusively producing its own designs. Now the chipmaker is building up its foundry operations, which make semiconductors and other technology for outside customers — one of the biggest shake-ups in the 55-year-old company's history.

Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger has been increasingly talking up Intel's capabilities in packaging — the technology that surrounds chips. And the company is making headway in signing up customers in that area, he says, even if those buyers bring chips that were made elsewhere.

The packaging business is seen as a way to lure in clients, who may then use Intel for a broader swath of their chipmaking