AMD Now Has A Plan To Take On Nvidia
There was a clear problem of cross platform support. If developers built software for CUDA, then it won’t necessarily run on OpenCL. Similarly, code built for OpenCL won’t run on CUDA. So developers built software for the more popular CUDA framework which limited deep learning programs to Nvidia’s ecosystem.
This was a big issue and needed to be addressed. This is where a graphics startup Otoy came into picture. The firm basically reverse engineered CUDA framework and was able to successfully port programs built for Nvidia cards, over to graphics engines built by ARM, Intel and AMD. Shortly after, we saw apps built exclusively for NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), running smoothly on AMD cards. So it was a big benefit for AMD.
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In order to take its interaction with the CUDA architecture a bit further, AMD breathed life into it’s Boltzman initiative earlier this year. You can read about it in detail here (1) but the crux of it all is that AMD is now able to port 99.6% of CUDA code over to its OpenCL framework. And the entire conversion process is automatic.
This basically means that developers don’t have to work hard to build a separate code for AMD chips. They just have to port it using an automatic conversion tool and the AMD ecosystem would open up to them. Meanwhile, the ported apps immediately enhance AMD’s appeal in the deep learning space. So it’s a massive win-win situation for both AMD and developers. Both parties get to benefit with minimal human intervention.
What Lies Ahead For AMD?
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) has addressed the porting issue and now CUDA apps can run on its GPGPUs. This essentially means that enterprises looking to invest in deep learning setups can now source the hardware from both Nvidia and AMD (meaning more revenue for AMD?). As high-performance Vega cards get released next year, I believe more enterprises would strike sourcing deals with AMD for their deep learning machines.
Also Read: Why The Google Deal May Be The First Of Many For Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
It is these reasons that lead me to believe that AMD can now become a contender in the deep learning segment. It won’t be able to replace CUDA anytime soon, but at least this way, it has put a step forward and gotten in on a rapidly growing market. Even small market share gains in the segment could drive AMD’s growth going forward.
The article Deep Learning To Drive Huge Growth For Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) originally appeared on amigobulls.com. Watch our analysis video on AMD (2)
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Additional Links:
(1) http://www.anandtech.com/show/10831/amd-sc16-rocm-13-released-boltzmann-realized?ref=il
