Covering Scientific & Technical AI | Friday, December 13, 2024

Intel Expands AI Portfolio with SigOpt Deal 

Intel Corp. is acquiring AI optimization software vendor SigOpt, a move the chip maker said would complement its existing AI software portfolio while integrating SigOpt’s tools with its AI hardware to accelerate and scale AI software used by model developers.

The acquisition also addresses the growing complexity of machine learning and neural network models and the resulting inability of hardware to keep pace.

Terms of the transaction announced Thursday (Oct. 29) were not disclosed. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) said it expects the acquisition to close by the end of this quarter.

San Francisco-based SigOpt was founded in 2014 to create a commercial product from CEO and Co-Founder Scott Clark’s academic research at Cornell University on Bayesian optimization techniques. Combined with Intel’s AI computing and machine learning capabilities, Clark said SigOpt’s optimization software would help “unlock entirely new AI capabilities for modelers.”

SigOpt’s AI software is designed to boost productivity and performance across hardware and software parameters, resulting in more accurate and better performing machine learning models—even as complexity grows.

Read the full story here at sister website Datanami.

About the author: George Leopold

George Leopold has written about science and technology for more than 30 years, focusing on electronics and aerospace technology. He previously served as executive editor of Electronic Engineering Times. Leopold is the author of "Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom" (Purdue University Press, 2016).

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