Intel explains AI PC requirements: equipped with GPU and NPU, supporting VNNI and DP4a instruction processing

Intel Core Ultra processor "Meteor Lake" meets AI PC requirements: equipped with GPU, NPU, and supports VNNI and DP4a instructions.

According to Hallock, AI PCs need to be equipped with GPUs and NPUs that can process VNNI (vector neural network instructions) and DP4a instructions, and the Intel Core Ultra processor "Meteor Lake" meets these requirements.

From a performance and energy perspective, returning AI tasks to the CPU is extremely inefficient, so the AI PC must be equipped with an NPU. According to reports, unlike Intel's previous concepts such as Centrino and Viiv, Intel believes that AI PC will become the standard form of personal computers in the next five years, so it will not market it as a special brand or specification.

The Intel executive confirmed to The Register that the AI PC specification does not include specific requirements for memory, storage or I/O speed. Although some large language models require 32GB of memory to run, most models only require 16GB of memory.

Hallock believes that in the future, AI will revolutionize the PC experience just as GPUs do today. Currently, NPU can be used to detect memory tampering attacks and will become a powerful commercial assistant.