The Drum · Weekly AI news, freeSubscribe →
Timeline
The race to develop efficient and powerful AI chips has been a critical battleground in the tech industry's quest to enhance artificial intelligence capabilities. Major players like NVIDIA, Google, Apple, and Chinese companies such as Huawei have invested heavily in custom silicon designed specifically for AI tasks. From inception with the first specialized GPUs used in AI training, to today’s war of next-gen neuromorphic chips, this timeline traces significant moments that shaped the hardware foundation supporting modern AI systems.
1984
NVIDIA Founded
Jen-Hsun Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem start NVIDIA in California, eventually focusing on graphics processing units (GPUs) that would become crucial for AI computing.
1999
First NVIDIA GPU
NVIDIA introduces the GeForce 256, a graphics card that includes hardware support for texture mapping, marking an early step towards GPUs as engines for AI computations.
2007-11-13
Tegra Introduced
NVIDIA unveils the Tegra line of mobile processors designed for portable devices, signaling its move beyond desktop GPUs and into AI-friendly hardware.
2012-11-14
Google's TensorFlow
Google opens up the source code for its machine learning library, TensorFlow, paving the way for broader AI adoption and GPU usage.
2016-05-18
NVIDIA's P100
NVIDIA launches the Pascal-based Tesla P100 GPU, a major leap in computational power for AI applications.
2017-11-06
Apple's A11 Bionic
Apple introduces the A11 Bionic chip, featuring a Neural Engine for AI processing within mobile devices.
2018-04-23
Intel's Nervana
Intel acquires startup Nervana Systems, integrating AI-specific silicon into its lineup.
2018-05-16
AMD's Radeon Instinct
AMD releases the Radeon Instinct MI60 GPU, positioning itself as a competitor in AI hardware.
2018-11-07
Google's Edge TPU
Google introduces the Edge TPU, a specialized chip for AI inference at the edge of networks.
2019-04-08
Huawei's Ascend 910
Huawei unveils its Ascend series, including the world’s largest AI chip, designed for cloud and data center applications.
2019-07-30
IBM's Truera Platform
IBM launches its AI Explainability 360 toolkit, highlighting the importance of transparency in AI hardware design.
2019-10-24
Apple's A13 Bionic
Apple upgrades its Neural Engine with the A13 chip, showing continued investment in AI capabilities for mobile devices.
2020-06-19
Samsung's Exynos AI Chip
Samsung announces its new Exynos chip with an integrated AI unit, aiming to compete in the smartphone market.
2021-03-18
Graphcore's Intelligence Processing Unit
Graphcore launches its IPU, designed specifically for artificial intelligence workloads and machine learning applications.
2021-06-30
Qualcomm's 5G AI Platform
Qualcomm introduces its new Snapdragon platform, optimized for AI and machine learning tasks in 5G networks.
Legend
founding
product
funding
