With the aim to scale artificial intelligence (AI) productivity, chipmaker Intel said that it is acquiring San Francisco-based firm SigOpt that deals in the optimization of AI software models at scale.
The deal is expected to close this quarter. Transaction terms were not disclosed. SigOpt's team – including SigOpt CEO and co-founder Scott Clark and CTO and co-founder Patrick Hayes – will join the Machine Learning Performance team in Intel Architecture, Graphics and Software (IAGS).
Raja Koduri, Intel senior vice president, chief architect and general manager of IAGS said: “SigOpt's AI software platform and data science talent will augment Intel software, architecture, product offerings and teams, and provide us with valuable customer insights.”
Intel said that it plans to use SigOpt's software technologies across its AI hardware products to help accelerate, amplify and scale company's AI software solution offerings to developers.
SigOpt's customer base includes Fortune 500 companies across industries, as well as leading research institutions, universities and consortiums.
SigOpt CEO and co-founder Scott Clark said: “By combining our AI optimization software with Intel's decades-long leadership in AI computing and machine learning performance, we will be able to unlock entirely new AI capabilities for modelers.”
Intel said it expects the AI silicon market to be greater than $25 billion by 20241. AI solutions already drive meaningful revenue for the company with more than $3.8 billion in AI-driven revenue in 2019.
Intel said that the combination of SigOpt's software technologies and Intel hardware is expected to drive increased AI adoption. The company's AI software strategy is aimed at optimizing its hardware performance, providing tools to speed up the AI workflow process and building a consistent experience for developers with oneAPI.
Intel estimates the total addressable market (TAM) for AI silicon by 2024 will be greater than $25 billion, and within that, AI silicon in the data center is expected to be greater than $10 billion in the same timeframe.
