Chip giant Intel last week rolled out a new deep learning framework that runs as a Spark job atop Hadoop. Called BigDL, the open source software is designed to take advantage of hardware acceleration capabilities that Intel has built into its Xeon CPUs. BigDL, which Intel released on Github, is modeled after Torch, an open source deep learning framework used in scientific computing. Intel says the framework supports numeric computing via Tensor, as well as high level neural networks, and can be used to run prebuilt Caffe and Torch models on Spark. While many deep learning frameworks today leverage GPUs, Intel is taking a different route with BigDL, for obvious reasons.

Its expected over 50 billion devices will be connected by 2020, these includes wearables, vehicles, city infrastructure and probably sensors in every home appliance. Intel is working hard towards this vision and identified these areas the chipmaker will be focusing advancely for 2017. Artificial intelligence, 5G networks, automated driving and virtual reality/merged reality. The global robotics and AI market is estimated to grow to $153 billion by 2020, which includes $83 billion for robotics and $70 billion for AI-based analytics. The technology supporting some nascent AI applications, such as natural language processing and bots will greatly improve, paving the way for more widespread adoption of AI.

In this Chip Chat podcast, Diane Bryant, EVP/GM for the Data Center Group at Intel, discusses how the company is driving the future of artificial intelligence by delivering breakthrough performance from best-in-class silicon, democratizing access to technology, and fostering beneficial uses of AI. Bryant also outlines her vision for AI's ability to fundamentally transform the way businesses operate and people engage with the world. At an AI event in November, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich shared how both the promise and complexities of AI require an extensive set of leading technologies to choose from and an ecosystem that can scale beyond early adopters. As algorithms become complex and required data sets grow, Krzanich said Intel has the assets and know-how required to drive this computing transformation. At the event, Bryant also announced that Intel expects the next generation of Intel Xeon Phi processors (code-named "Knights Mill") will deliver up to 4x better performance1 than the previous generation for deep learning and will be available in 2017.

Intel announces AI strategy to drive breakthrough performance, democratize access and maximize societal benefits. Intel introduces industry's most comprehensive data center compute portfolio for AI: the new Intel Nervana platform. Intel aims to deliver up to 100x reduction in the time to train a deep learning model over the next three years compared to GPU solutions. Intel reinforces commitment to an open AI ecosystem through an array of developer tools built for ease of use and cross-compatibility, laying the foundation for greater innovation. Intel announces AI strategy to drive breakthrough performance, democratize access and maximize societal benefits.

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17, 2016 – Intel Corporation today announced a range of new products, technologies and investments from the edge to the data center to help expand and accelerate the growth of artificial intelligence (AI). Intel sees AI transforming the way businesses operate and how people engage with the world. Intel is assembling the broadest set of technology options to drive AI capabilities in everything from smart factories and drones to sports, fraud detection and autonomous cars. At an industry gathering led by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, Intel shared how both the promise and complexities of AI require an extensive set of leading technologies to choose from and an ecosystem that can scale beyond early adopters. As algorithms become complex and required data sets grow, Krzanich said Intel has the assets and know-how required to drive this computing transformation.

Intel has flexed its AI muscles and beefed up its services with a bunch of new products and collaborations, in an effort to adapt to the technological upheaval of intelligent software. At Intel's first "AI Day" in San Francisco, Brian Krzanich, CEO, said the company is "continuing to evolve" and working to provide an "end-to-end AI solution" to allow companies to easily integrate intelligence into their infrastructures. As data generated by companies continues to pile up, the interest in analyzing that data using machine learning and AI has been piqued. The largest technology companies are all making big investments and staking their claims in AI. But while companies such as Google and Microsoft have developed libraries of machine learning tools such as TensorFlow and Cognitive Toolkit, Intel is more focused on updating servers to cope with the intense computation required to process and train AI systems.

Intel announced a slew of products, technologies and investment in an effort to fix its position in the field of artificial intelligence. In the new move, Intel has assembled a set of technology options to drive AI capabilities in everything from smart factories and drones to sports, fraud detection and autonomous cars. Intel is increasing its focus on AI as it believes it can power the AI products released recently by companies like Facebook and Google. In a blog Intel CEO Brian Krzanich had said, "Intel is uniquely capable of enabling and accelerating the promise of AI. Intel is committed to AI and is making major investments in technology and developer resources to advance AI for business and society."

A Sony PlayStation 4 console display is viewed in this Nov. 14, 2013 photo in a Best Buy store on the upper East Side of Manhattan, in New York. Sony is hosting an event in New York, where they will likely reveal two new PlayStation 4 video game consoles: a slimmer, lower-cost model and a second, higher-powered version code-named "Neo," which will better handle 4K content as well as the company's upcoming PlayStation VR platform. We'll have live updates right on this page when the PlayStation event starts. Here's what you need to know: PlayStation will air the event live through its website, which you can watch through any web or mobile browser. It will also stream on Twitch, which you can watch through its official app. Let's start with what's confirmed, which is Sony's plans to release a souped-up PS4 that can run 4K and better handle VR content.

This year is Microsoft's chance to show what the Xbox One is truly capable of. We've already seen the excellent Quantum Break from developer Remedy Entertainment this year, and, indeed, the company has a new focus on original, exclusive games. Cases in point: the cel-shaded pirate simulator Sea of Thieves, the robotic mystery of ReCore and a long-awaited return to Halo's strategy roots with Halo Wars 2. There's also the chance we could hear more about Inside, from Limbo developer Playdead, and maybe, just maybe, Crackdown 3 and the newly leaked and zombie-focused Dead Rising 4 and State of Decay 2. That's to say nothing of Below from Capybara Games or Tacoma from Fullbright -- both of which have been running under the radar in terms of media access. There are also rumors that Microsoft will have new hardware to show off, including a microconsole that accesses games and apps like Netflix from your Xbox One. Given the work that Microsoft has put into Xbox-to-PC streaming, this doesn't seem farfetched.

A product team at Google is working on a hardware device that would integrate Google's search and voice assistant technology, akin to the Amazon Echo, Recode has learned. Google's device will resemble its OnHub wireless router, according to several sources. We don't know if it has a name yet, but internally the project goes by "Chirp." The Information previously reported that Google was plotting a competing version of Echo, a portable speaker with voice assistant tech. Sources said the device is unlikely to launch next week at Google's I/O developer conference, but plans are for it to land at some point this year.