To capitalize on the explosion in generative AI, Intel and investment partner Digital Bridge Group announced on Wednesday the creation of Articul8 AI, an independent company already offering secure GenAI software to enterprises.
Articul8 AI is not expected to be publicly traded, and includes leaders from the ranks of Intel. Intel did not comment on the value of the deal. Intel named Arun Subramaniyan as CEO of Articul8. He was formerly general manager of Intel’s Data Center and AI Group.
The companies said the software platform will work with cloud or on-premise or in a hybrid fashion. The software initially has relied on Intel Xeon processors and Gaudi accelerators but will support a range of infrastructure.
Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates, said the announcement "speaks to how important AI is being perceived, and especially for Intel being able to target an AI platform towards its Gaudi and Xeon processors. If Articul8 AI takes off, it could be a big win for Intel processors and a major competitive win against Nvidia and maybe even AMD."
Boston Consulting Group has already used the software with its enterprise customers across various industries that require high security, including financial, aerospace, semiconductors and telecom, according to a statement.
“Our collaboration began nearly two years ago while the venture was still in the incubation stage at Intel,” said Rich Lesser, global chair of BCG. “Since then, we have deployed Articul8 products for multiple clients seeking production-ready platforms with rapid time to market.”
Articul8 named existing and future customers on its website, including Uptycs, Scripps and Invest India. Uptycs, a provider of security across laptop and cloud, said its customers now use Articul8 to perform threat analysis using natural language to generate insights and mitigation techniques. “We are thrilled by the speed and scale at which Articul8 can deploy their GenAI engines and enable us to focus on our security application,” said CEO Ganesh Pai in a statement.
Intel recently unveiled its AI Everywhere strategy with release of 5th generation Xeon for servers and Core Ultra for PCs and other mobile devices. CEO Pat Gelsinger expanded on the idea in a statement, saying, “as Intel accelerates AI everywhere, we look forward to out continued collaboration with Articul8.”
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DigitalBridge Ventures served as lead investor in Articul8 AI along with Fin Capital, Mindset Ventures, Communitas Capital, GiantLeap Capital, GS Futures and Zain Group.
“Every global enterprise today is challenged to integrate GenAI capabilities into their workflows.Articul8 has built a scalable and easy-to-deploy GenAI software platform that is already enabling enterprises to unlock value from their proprietary data,” said Marc Ganzi, CEO of DigitalBridge.
Analyst Gold agreed there is a need for tools to help enterprises with GenAI work. Enterprise IT shops are investigating open tools from Microsoft, Meta and Nvidia but their work in those tools so far is experimentation and not full deployments. "Enterprises and especially regulated one like financial and healthcare have a need for the most secure AI platform and the open platforms just don't cut it," Gold said. Also, enterprises want to avoid getting locked into a hyperscaler platform from AWS, Azure and Google Cloud because a proprietary approach doesn't necessarily work well for hybrid cloud and data center work often used by enterprises. In addition, Articul8 AI specifically focuses on just enterprises and not also consumer like Chat GPT and Meta LLaMa.