4th Gen Intel Xeon Processors Accelerate TensorFlow
Google and Intel introduce the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Processor, optimizing matrix multiplication.
Created on January 11|Last edited on January 12
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Moore's Law or Moore's Observation speculated the doubling of transistors every 2 years. The gaming industry fueled the growth of graphics cards. Emerging developer communities develop resources to bridge hardware and software, precipitating performance. Among many other factors, we've witnessed an explosive upsurge in hardware, software, and, in large, performance.
Intel and Google's 4th Gen Intel Xeon Processor leverages Intel's Advanced Matrix Extension (AMX). Essentially, it is an x86 extension that speeds up operations you'd see in training models (e.g. matrix multiplication, convolutions)! Deemed as an AI Engine, AMX specializes in acceleration specifically for low-precision data types like Google's bfloat16. It builds on existing features that optimize vector computation, resource usage, and lower-precision optimization. Intel's 4th Gen Xeon Processors paired with BF16 demonstrate 2x to 10x improvement over FP32 in Intel's 3rd Gen Processors, 2x to 6x improvement in training, and 2x to 19x improvement in quantized model inference! All in all, the performance across the board is strongly suggesting major improvements of at least roughly 2x.
What does this mean for practitioners? For scientists and engineers? For the average consumer or tech person? Why does this matter?
Granted, this singular instance isn't the entirety of the hardware acceleration movement, it might not seem immediately obvious how impactful it is. However, this news is just one piece of a very large puzzle! With every year, we find ways to optimize, improve, and tailor our hardware to the emerging technologies, that is in this case, AI. In the larger picture, this instance represents the move towards a future with incredibly fast, efficient systems. It describes a world with efficient AI-driven technology. Yes, AI has been making amazing progress, but it's crucial to understand that these innovations power this future and materialize the potential of AI into your hands.
For a more through breakdown, I'd highly recommend taking a look at the source article: Optimizing TensorFlow for 4th Gen Intel Xeon Processors in TensorFlow Blog!
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