Intel launches Loihi AI Chip and a 49-qubit Quantum Chip

In a brand new venture, Intel has announced the release of Loihi and a 49-qubit chip. While the 49-qubit ‘Tangle Lake’ chip is the latest superconducting test chip, the Loihi chip is the first ‘neuromorphic’ chip enabled with AI.

AI-enabled

Intel had announced the Loihi chips way back in September of the previous year. The Loihi AI chips are the company’s offering for the fast-developing world of AI chips. This neuromorphic chip has the potential to mimic the way that a human brain learns and understands. However, the Loihi has a higher level of complexity and require more computing power, which can be moved to the chip to increase the efficiency of the system.

Tangled!

On the other hand, the Tangle Lake chip is dedicated solely to quantum computing. This includes the challenge of working in extremely stable environments. The 49-qubit is also addressing Intel’s main objective of processing speed. Interesting, this chip comes in the size of a quarter and has improved thermal performance and reduced radio frequency interference. The 49-qubit has a scalable interconnect for more signals to pass in and out of the chip and advanced material and design to scale for quantum integrated circuitry.

Although Intel stole the show at CES with the announcement of these chips, there are other companies right behind. Companies like Nvidia and startups like Graphcore are also attempting to stake a claim.