Intel Adds VPUs to Its Meteor Lake Client CPUs to Handle Overwhelming AI Demands

Intel will include Vision Processing Units (VPUs), a technology it acquired from Movidius in 2016, in all of its upcoming Meteor Lake client CPUs to handle AI workloads. This decision comes as AI is becoming increasingly present in many PC workloads, especially in video conferences and gaming. Companies and buyers want PCs to perform everywhere, so shifting AI work to the cloud is both impractical and expensive. Intel's Foveros packaging tech will combine the CPU, GPU, and VPU in the Meteor Lake system-on-chip (SoC), with the VPU being able to handle "sustained AI and AI offload." The addition of VPUs will make the devices more efficient and compelling, and demand for VPU-infused Meteor Lake SoCs could help turn things around for PC sales.