Intel Ventures Into Developing GPUs With Help From Former AMD Radeon Boss
Intel is expanding its business, and it recently announced it was venturing into developing graphics processing unit chips with help from a former executive of AMD Radeon.
While Intel is the more common brand seen on laptops and PCs with their CPU chips, AMD has managed to establish a good lead in developing GPUs through their Radeon Technologies Group, which was headed by Raja Koduri for years.
Even so, according to an internal memo obtained by Hexus, Koduri recently addressed the Radeon team to confirm that he was leaving the company.
The same publication recalled that it had previously reported on Koduri's supposed leave from his Radeon duties. However, as it turned out, the former Radeon boss was not just taking a break but was officially stepping down as the head of RTG.
Meanwhile, the obtained memo also confirmed that Koduri did take a break from his Radeon executive duties -- which lasted for 40 days, to be exact -- before telling employees that he was leaving.
"I have no question in my mind that RTG, and AMD, are marching firmly in the right direction as high-performance computing becomes ever-more-important in every aspect of our lives," Koduri told Radeon employees in the memo.
For his parting words, he left bulleted "final requests" for the Radeon team that said they must "stay focused on the roadmap" and "deliver on your commitments." In the end, he asked Radeon developers to make him and AMD proud of their work.
Almost immediately after the said memo was distributed, Intel welcomed Koduri in a news release while also announcing their plans to start making "high-end, discrete graphics solutions." The company also confirmed they have positioned Koduri as the senior vice president of Intel's newly established Core and Visual Computing Group.
The news of Intel's expansion and the addition of Koduri came very shortly after Intel and AMD announced their partnership to produce an upcoming 8th-generation Core chip with an embedded semi-custom Radeon graphics card.