Competitive talent acquisition activity between Intel and AMD indicates both vendors accelerating GPU and accelerator development efforts.

Intel is building out its graphics processing unit efforts with significant talent acquisitions from AMD. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has hired Raja Koduri, AMD's former chief GPU architect who now leads Intel's Core and Visual Computing Group; former AMD graphics marketing head Chris Hook; AMD chip design veteran Jim Keller; and former AMD senior director of platform engineering Joseph Facca, who started last week. Tom Forsyth, one of the key architects behind Intel's previous dedicated GPU attempt, has also rejoined the company to work alongside Koduri. In a June 23 LinkedIn post, Facca wrote, "This is the start of something exhilarating!"

These moves represent a significant strategic shift for Intel, which has primarily focused on integrated graphics solutions in its main CPU line following failed previous efforts with the Intel i740 in the late 1990s and the aborted Larrabee GPU project in 2013. Channel partners view the hiring spree as evidence of serious commitment. Andrew Kretzer, director of sales and marketing at Bold Data Technology in Fremont, Calif., stated, "I think that Intel's recent hires in the GPU space show that they are serious and committed to a competitive product offering in that arena." Randy Copeland, CEO of Richmond, Va.-based Velocity Micro, said, "Clearly, Intel is hiring some quality people. I personally know some of these guys, and they are brilliant and passionate people that are absolutely up to the challenge. People alone don't make a product great, but combined with Intel's financial and intellectual muscle, I would fully expect to see some competitive products on the horizon."

Intel confirmed last month that it will release its first GPU in 2020 as part of a set of "high-end discrete graphics solutions for a broad range of computing segments," including gaming, data center, professional workstation and artificial intelligence. These segments will encompass entry-level, mid-range and high-end products. According to a source familiar with Intel's plans, "[Intel is] really trying to come in and ultimately play in the entire spectrum."

The channel will be essential to Intel's go-to-market strategy. Kent Tibbils, vice president of marketing at Fremont, Calif.-based distributor ASI Corp, said "I think it's a good opportunity in the channel. It's a huge category for ASI and most of our resellers." Copeland emphasized that "The channel is the only sensible launch avenue for this type of all new product, because we can do our validation and launch integration in months instead of years." Wallace Santos, CEO of Kenilworth, N.J.-based system builder Maingear, stated bluntly, "If the channel's not adopting a new GPU, it will fail."

As leader of the Core and Visual Computing Group, Koduri oversees architecture, design and development of Intel's CPU and GPU core technologies alongside software efforts including tools, software developer kits and APIs, and management of Intel's developer ecosystem. This positions him to drive ecosystem integration, which partners see as Intel's potential competitive advantage. Santos noted, "When it works with their own platform, it should shine," though he emphasized that Intel GPUs must also work well with other hardware ecosystems, as "People love ecosystems, and it's great to have an ecosystem that's compatible with other ecosystems."