Intel Soon Launches 12th Generation Intel Core To Seize Position As The Fastest Processor Maker

JAKARTA— Intel Corp on Wednesday introduced a new family of faster processor chips for personal computers and said the supercomputer being built by the US government would reach twice the speed previously thought.

Intel is scrambling to regain its lead in making the fastest computing chips after losing its title to competitors such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Apple Inc. Both of these competitors use outside partners to make their chips, while Intel has struggled with its internal manufacturing operations.

Santa Clara, California-based Intel has made the announcement at an event aimed at persuading software developers to write code for its chips.

Intel is showing a version of the 12th generation Intel Core chips for PCs, codenamed Alder Lake. The company says this product line will eventually include 60 different chips aimed at 500 PC models from various makers, from thin laptops to larger machines designed for gamers.

The company said it will ship 28 versions of the chip to PC makers, with "wide availability" starting November 4.

Intel also said that the Aurora, the supercomputer Intel is building with the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory for artificial intelligence work in suburban Chicago, will be twice as fast as originally planned.

Intel says this computer will exceed 2 exaflops, meaning the ability to perform 2 quintillion - or 2,000,000,000,000,000 - calculations per second.

Intel initially committed to shipping $500 million worth of computers this year with 1 exaflop of performance, but manufacturing delays forced it to delay shipments until next year.

Meanwhile, Argonne officials are leveraging rivals Intel Nvidia Corp and AMD for a smaller system built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co as a test system to continue developing software technology for delayed machines.