Google Worked With Intel on a custom AI Chip For Its Pixel Phones (cnbc.com)

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Google Worked With Intel on a custom AI Chip For Its Pixel Phones (cnbc.com)

Posted by msmash on Monday October 23, 2017 @07:51AM from the closer-look dept.

A special-purpose chip for artificial intelligence and other tasks in Google's new Pixel smartphones draws on Intel technology. From a report: In addition to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip, the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL both feature a new custom Pixel Visual Core co-processor, which is meant to improve speed and battery life when shooting photos with Google's HDR+ technology, and better handle AI workloads in apps, Google has said. But the company didn't disclose details about its partners on the chip. Then, last week, device repair website iFixit published a teardown of the Pixel 2 XL that showed what the Pixel Visual Core chip actually looks like. The serial number on the chip in a photograph begins with "SR3," like some Intel chips. Google confirmed the connection. "Google built Pixel Visual Core with Intel," the Google spokesperson wrote in an email to CNBC. "Pixel Visual Core is a custom designed processor from Google, built to serve specific computational photography requirements that could not be met by existing chips."

73 comments

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With by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 07:53 · Score: 1

Should the title say "With" instead of "Eith"?
1. Re:With by Desler · 2017-10-23 07:59 · Score: 1
  
  No it was meant to be Eigth. msmash forgot the ‘G.’
2. Re:With by OnceWas · 2017-10-23 08:02 · Score: 2
  
  Or maybe it was Eithernet.
  
  --
  Laugh while you can, monkey-boy.
3. Re:With by sysrammer · 2017-10-23 08:07 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Come on, guys, make up your mind, it's either won or the otter.
  
  --
  His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
4. Re:With by Desler · 2017-10-23 08:27 · Score: 1
  
  For all intensive purposes?
5. Re:With by Enigma2175 · 2017-10-23 08:45 · Score: 2
  
  If you jackasses don't edit anything, quit calling yourselves "editors". "Slashdot monkeys" or "Slashvertisement facilitators" would be more appropriate.
  
  --
  Enigma
6. Re:With by roc97007 · 2017-10-23 08:46 · Score: 1
  
  It's one of those AI generated Slashdot titles, I'm betting.
  
  --
  Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
7. Re:With by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:51 · Score: 0
  
  my thoughts, ed zachary.
8. Re:With by msauve · 2017-10-23 08:57 · Score: 1
  
  It's a mute point.
  
  --
  "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
9. Re:With by ChristophWeber · 2017-10-23 08:58 · Score: 1
  
  Fixed
10. Re:With by Archangel+Michael · 2017-10-23 08:59 · Score: 1
  
  I give way more credence to the idea that AI wasn't involved at all, as there is very little intelligence shown :-P
  
  --
  Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
11. Re:With by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 09:14 · Score: 0
  
  I don’t see what was wrong eith the title to begin eith.
12. Re:With by roc97007 · 2017-10-23 11:27 · Score: 1
  
  I give way more credence to the idea that AI wasn't involved at all, as there is very little intelligence shown :-P
  But a mere human would have proofread his or her work before posting to a gazillion readers?
  Surely?
  
  --
  Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
13. Re: With by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 17:31 · Score: 0
  
  If you are lookjng for an escape goat...
14. Re: With by sysrammer · 2017-10-23 19:15 · Score: 1
  
  ...I am, if he can't tow the line.
  
  --
  His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
15. Re:With by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 21:15 · Score: 0
  
  I seriously DOUBT that they made an "AI Chip"... We do not even have TRUE AI in software, much less in hardware... This is Apple-styled Hype, PR and BS..... nothing more...
16. Re: With by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-24 07:00 · Score: 0
  
  You mean a moo point? Like something a cow might say?
Poor Eith Intel! by SuperKendall · 2017-10-23 07:54 · Score: 2

I can just imagine poor Eith, probably "worked" with a pipe wrench until she literally coughed up the chip Google was seeking.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
1. Re:Poor Eith Intel! by keep_forgetting_nick · 2017-10-23 07:56 · Score: 1
  
  Grow up. Clearly it is Edith.
2. Re:Poor Eith Intel! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:13 · Score: 0
  
  Always two, there are. (Intel/Nvidia)
3. Re:Poor Eith Intel! by The+Grim+Reefer · 2017-10-23 08:23 · Score: 1
  
  Clearly it is Edith.
  I never knew she remarried. I wonder if Mr. Intel called her a dingbat and sent her off to the kitchen to get him a beer too.
4. Re:Poor Eith Intel! by sconeu · 2017-10-23 08:48 · Score: 1
  
  *That's* why the Pixel doesn't have a cape!
  
  --
  General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
5. Re:Poor Eith Intel! by gtall · 2017-10-23 10:38 · Score: 1
  
  "Pipe wench", you mean.
6. Re:Poor Eith Intel! by BoogieChile · 2017-10-23 13:55 · Score: 1
  
  She probably shouldn't have swallowed the chip in the first place. All those pins, really couldn't have been pleasant going in either direction.
Eith Intel by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 07:56 · Score: 0

LOL
Eith?!! by Desler · 2017-10-23 07:58 · Score: 0

Good ole Slashdot editors. Just as incompetent as ever.
1. Re:Eith?!! by dmgxmichael · 2017-10-23 08:16 · Score: 1
  
  Good ole Slashdot editors. Just as incompetent as ever.
  To be honest, this is a new low. Can't remember seeing a misspelling in a headline, particularly of an extremely common 4 letter word that isn't a homonym with anything.
2. Re:Eith?!! by sysrammer · 2017-10-23 08:19 · Score: 1
  
  Eh, "eith" got us to comment on TFA. Otherwise I wouldn't have been interested. But I was curious what the buzzword-bingo word-salad actually meant.
  So, a "win" for TFEs.
  
  --
  His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
3. Re:Eith?!! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:20 · Score: 0
  
  this headline powered by intel(r) pentium(tm)
4. Re:Eith?!! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:27 · Score: 0
  
  Then you don’t pay good enough attention. EditorDavid somehow manages to mangle and screw up transcribing titles where all he had to do was copy and paste the text.
5. Re:Eith?!! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:58 · Score: 0
  
  I don't remember a title that has such an obvious mistake that makes it almost unreadable.
6. Re:Eith?!! by sysrammer · 2017-10-23 19:26 · Score: 1
  
  this headline powered by intel(r) pentium(tm)
  I rate this comment 4.9999018484672282 stars.
  
  --
  His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
STOP CALLING IT AI!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:02 · Score: 0

Seriously. "Yet another way to sell ads" isnt AI, no matter how much Silly-con Valley wants it!
1. Re:STOP CALLING IT AI!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:06 · Score: 0
  
  My machine is learning best how to stretch out yo momma’s pussy with its AI-powered dong.
2. Re: STOP CALLING IT AI!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:08 · Score: 0
  
  Agreed, let's call it 'aith' from now on!
3. Re:STOP CALLING IT AI!!! by sysrammer · 2017-10-23 08:08 · Score: 1
  
  Aight
  
  --
  His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
4. Re:STOP CALLING IT AI!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:16 · Score: 0
  
  True. That has nothing to do with AI. Google just needs a co-processor where it can offload its spyware load and keep it out of system statistics or reverse engineering done by privacy concerned people. It is ironic that on PC's the backdoors are built on ARM modules, but on mobiles they are ran on Intel HW.
Not the Eith... by kwerle · 2017-10-23 08:05 · Score: 1

Google Worked Eith Intel on a custom AI Chip For Its Pixel Phones
What is the rule for capitalizing "For" and "Its" but not "on", "a", "custom"?
1. Re:Not the Eith... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:16 · Score: 0
  
  lololol ^ thinks slashdot editors follow any kind of grammatical rules.
2. Re:Not the Eith... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:58 · Score: 0
  
  What is the rule for capitalizing "For" and "Its" but not "on", "a", "custom"?
  Yes.
3. Re:Not the Eith... by sysrammer · 2017-10-23 19:29 · Score: 1
  
  Yah, I noticed The inconsistency. That, my friend, was the frosting on the quake.
  
  --
  His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
Must brush up on my Welsh by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:10 · Score: 0

Eish!
Headline Needs Wditors by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:10 · Score: 0

Just saying.
Arthur Two Sheds Jackson by grungeman · 2017-10-23 08:14 · Score: 4, Funny

Forgive me for being old fashined, but the replies to the article remind me in a wonderful way of this Monty Python classic (of course eith Eric Idle and Terry Jones):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

--

Signature deleted by lameness filter.
Eith by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:15 · Score: 0

I'm glad that editors eithread before they post. Eithreading is super important.
So a D.igital S.ignal P.rocessor chip. by Fly+Swatter · 2017-10-23 08:18 · Score: 2

How '90s. How does AI fit into this again ?
1. Re:So a D.igital S.ignal P.rocessor chip. by StreamingEagle · 2017-10-23 08:32 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Similar, but different. Intel bought Movidius, which designed this chip (the Myriad X). Initially it was for visual processing (computer vision), but it morphed into being optimized for neural network inference (AI).
2. Re:So a D.igital S.ignal P.rocessor chip. by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:33 · Score: 0
  
  How '90s. How does AI fit into this again ?
  It's the new D.evO.ps R.eplacement K.ing.
3. Re:So a D.igital S.ignal P.rocessor chip. by Fly+Swatter · 2017-10-23 09:06 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you. You just explained what this thing does in two lines, better than the summary or linked article. I'm having slashdot flashbacks of the good old days.
4. Re:So a D.igital S.ignal P.rocessor chip. by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2017-10-23 09:20 · Score: 1
  
  . . . but it morphed into being optimized for neural network inference (AI).
  Gee, and here I was, thinking that the next NSA Vault 7 dumps would reveal that the chip morphed into being an embedded cell phone spy tool for the NSA, FBI, CIA and the Nuclear Boy Scouts of America.
  
  --
  Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
5. Re:So a D.igital S.ignal P.rocessor chip. by Desler · 2017-10-23 09:46 · Score: 1
  
  Not to be a pedant but Vault 7 was the CIA.
6. Re:So a D.igital S.ignal P.rocessor chip. by gtall · 2017-10-23 10:41 · Score: 1
  
  Well, it is sort of, but it will be a new gizmo, a shoe phone. It goes everywhere with you and you don't have worry about it falling out of your pocket or using a belt clip.
Eith Wonder by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:20 · Score: 0

That chip must be the eith wonder of the world.
AI Slashdot Headline Generator by Dan+East · 2017-10-23 08:24 · Score: 1

Requires more training.

--
Better known as 318230.
We need AI for Slashdot headlines by Kohlrabi82 · 2017-10-23 08:26 · Score: 1

An AI would never allow a headline with such a typo.
1. Re:We need AI for Slashdot headlines by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 09:59 · Score: 0
  
  The initial AI they created to create headlines was not a success, because it created headlines that gave a clue about one was to read in the summary. So now they are working on an evolved project - an AS. It's the first attempt at an artificial stupidity. The developers are hopefull, you won't be able to tell the results from the usual gibberish, created by human editors, very soon.
Eith ? TURN ON THE AI ! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:27 · Score: 0

We demand the return of our more-accurate robot editors.
The Slashdot Headline Generator doesn't make typos by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 08:33 · Score: 0

Eith ought the title looked funny.
Title tag and related article title still wrong by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 09:03 · Score: 0

So some time after posting this article to the front page with the word "With" misspelled as "Eith", the article title was corrected.
Except the title tag, URL, and related article title are all still wrong.
This article should be lined with dynamite and just blown away from the Slashdot archives. The only comments will be sadness about how an editor couldn't get this right. There is nothing worthwhile here.
Alternative summary by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2017-10-23 09:15 · Score: 2

"Intel pleads with the tech community to please consider them still relevant"

--
#DeleteChrome
OMG by Osgeld · 2017-10-23 09:23 · Score: 1

a company wanted to develop a hardware solution, and went to a hardware developer
HOLY FUCKBALLS!
alternative idiots on slashdot by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 10:33 · Score: 0

"Intel pleads with the tech community to please consider them still relevant"
yeah the company with 90% market share and the best silicon fab on the planet has some sort of inferiority complex
but only in the half dozen neurons still firing in your brain
Custom holes by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 10:39 · Score: 0

Yay NSA backdoors built right into the phone, so convenient!
Movidius chip? by Timothy2.0 · 2017-10-23 11:36 · Score: 1

Intel acquired Movidius, and they released their "neural compute stick" with dedicated hardware for convolutional neural networks. It wouldn't surprise me if this has made its way into the Pixel.
Furby toy has AI by thesjaakspoiler · 2017-10-23 12:20 · Score: 1

according to the loose definition that every company now uses to convince everyone that their product has AI in it.
SR3? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 12:50 · Score: 0

Skynet r3.....
Artificial Stupidity by ghoul · 2017-10-23 13:34 · Score: 1

We may not yet have solved the AI problem but AS seems to be a solved problem

--
**Life is too short to be serious**
1. Re:Artificial Stupidity by sysrammer · 2017-10-23 19:19 · Score: 1
  
  We may not yet have solved the AI problem but AS seems to be a solved problem
  Well, we're halfway there now! In another twenty years, we'll be halfway there again! It'll be like deja vu all over again.
  
  --
  His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
/. eppysode two... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 23:48 · Score: 0

Rize of teh Eith.