JPR: AI Processor Market Heats Up

Computer graphics analyst JPR (Jon Peddie Research) recently published a new report detailing the explosion of AI processor market. "AI Processors Quarterly Update," released this month, reveals, "As of the end of the quarter, 137 suppliers—from industry giants to VC-funded start-ups—are chasing this $387 billion market. Presently, the market is entering a new phase marked by consolidation, strategic pivots, and differentiated bets on future compute paradigms."

The report sums up the evolution of AI processors driven by computer vision, beginning with early attempts to develop programs that can recognize cats, dogs, cars, and other objects, followed by the GPU's emergence as the de facto AI processor. In this podcast, Jon Peddie, Founder and President of JPR, discusses startups that are poised to challenge the dominance of NVIDIA and AMD, NVIDIA's recent $5 billion investment in Intel, and more. 

Peddie compares today's AI market to the peak moment in the Darwinian evolution. "All the species in the world kind of exploded at one time and tried to find food, a way to evolve and survive and carry on. And that's where we are right now [with AI processors]," he says.

With humanoid robots and companion bots on the horizon, Peddie thinks computer vision still offers many newcomers opportunities. "Real time processing in a car or a robot is enormous. And that's going to be a black hole for a very long time. There's going to be a lot of energy and technology poured into it, to get to the point where automobiles, trucks, boats, airplanes, and robots move fluidly and naturally and don't bump into us and knock us over," he says.

Challengers trying to unseat the giants in the processor market also face threats. Typically, "the big company sees what the little company is doing and will try to do it bigger, better, and faster--or it will acquire the little company," he explains. 

Intel has made several faltered attempts to enter the discrete GPU market, pitting it against NVIDIA. But the new relationship changes the dynamics. "It allows Intel to pull back on its GPU business, and concentrate on integrated graphics," observes Peddie. Also, together, NVIDIA and Intel can conquer enterprise businesses more easily. "If you're a data center manager, and your visitors say, Hey, I'm from Intel, and I'm from NVIDIA, and we're here to help you. What are you going to say? You'd probably say, Thank you. Can I get you some coffee?," he quips.

For more on Peddie's thoughts and the recent JPR report, listen to the podcast.