Lenovo, Intel to collaborate on driving artificial intelligence to improve supercomputers

MORRISVILLE – With a large photo in the background declaring that already more than one in three supercomputers around the world are powered by Lenovo, the tech giant is working now with Intel to drive improvements in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.

The tech giants on Monday disclosed a “multiyear collaboration” that will have their firms looking to enable computers “accelerate solutions for the world’s most challenging problems.”

Lenovo, the world’s top provider of supercomputers with dual headquarters in Beijing and Morrisville, bases its business group in Research Triangle Park where its data center operations are headquartered.

Intel and Lenovo are long-time partners in data center products and services.

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Financial terms of the agreement were not closed.

The two firms are each committing intellectual property related to high-performance computing, or HPC, to the collaborative agreement.

“Our goal is to further accelerate innovation into the Exascale era, aggressively waterfalling these solutions to scientists and businesses of all sizes to speed discovery and outcomes. We are passionate in helping researchers solve humanity’s greatest challenges,” said Kirk Skaugen, executive vice president of Lenovo and president of Lenovo Data Center Group, in the announcement. “Lenovo’s Neptun liquid cooling, in combination with the 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable platform, helps customers unlock new insights and deliver unprecedented outcomes at new levels of energy efficiency.”

The signing for the memorandum of understanding between the firms was attended by Intel chief executive officer Bob Swan and Navin Shenoy, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Data Center Group, along with Lenovo chief executive officer Yuanqing Yang and Kirk Skaugen, executive vice president and president, Lenovo Data Center Group.

“Intel is laser-focused on helping our customers spur innovation and discovery through the convergence of AI with HPC,” said Navin Shenoy, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Data Center Group, in a statement. “Our extended collaboration with Lenovo combines the best of both companies’ innovations to drive our customers’ progress forward even faster.”

The agreement focuses on three areas: