Imagination abandoned neural processors in favor of improving the GPU for the needs of AI

British chip designer Imagination Technologies is changing its strategy in the field of artificial intelligence, abandoning the use of separate neural processing units (NPU) and introducing AI functions into graphics processing units (GPUs) as it receives $100 million in investment.

Image source: imaginationtech.com

The company has shifted its focus to GPUs, which are inherently multi-threaded and well suited for tasks that require efficient parallel processing. Imagination Technologies believes that GPUs can be enhanced with additional AI computing capabilities, making them suitable for edge applications, especially in devices with existing GPUs, such as smartphones.

As a reminder, Imagination Technologies, which has been in business for about 40 years, became famous for its PowerVR Kyro PC GPUs and PowerVR GPU IP cores used by Apple, Intel and other companies. Now, as part of the new strategy, the company is collaborating with the UXL Foundation to develop SYCL, an open platform that competes with Nvidia’s CUDA parallel computing architecture. This approach meets the needs of customers who already use GPUs for graphics processing and artificial intelligence tasks.

Image source: imaginationtech.com

Receiving a $100 million investment from Fortress Investment Group is likely due to Imagination Technologies’ new strategy. The company believes that GPUs are currently the best solution to meet customers’ AI needs, having stopped developing separate neural accelerators. However, Imagination has not ruled out the possibility of returning to the development of specialized neural processors in the future if the development of AI software changes the situation.