Intel to Launch Lunar Lake AI Chips for Windows 11

Intel has announced the upcoming release of its new AI PC chip, codenamed "Lunar Lake," slated for the third quarter of this year. This launch comes as a strategic response to Microsoft's recent collaboration with Qualcomm to introduce the "Copilot+ PC" based on the Snapdragon X platform, which is expected to intensify competition in the AI PC market.

The Lunar Lake chip aims to support over 80 different Windows 11 AI PC models from more than 20 OEM partners. Preliminary details indicate that Lunar Lake will utilize Intel's advanced 20A or 18A process technology along with next-generation Foveros packaging, featuring a 25-micron bump pitch. The chip is likely to incorporate Lion Cove P cores and Skymont E cores, along with an integrated iGPU containing 64 execution units (EUs) and a new NPU core.

Michelle Johnston Holthaus, Intel's Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Client Computing Group, highlighted Lunar Lake's innovative low-power architecture and significant IPC improvements. The AI performance of the GPU and NPU is reportedly three times higher than that of the previous Meteor Lake. The new NPU core boasts performance exceeding 40 TOPS, while the integrated iGPU provides over 60 TOPS, delivering a combined platform compute power of over 100 TOPS. This is designed to fully support the Copilot+ PC experience.

Holthaus emphasized that Lunar Lake, combined with Windows 11 Copilot+, represents Intel's most competitive client product to date. This is attributed to its breakthrough power efficiency, trusted x86 compatibility, and deep integration of CPU, GPU, and NPU with advanced software.

Intel acknowledges that fully leveraging AI PC capabilities requires robust software support. As part of its AI PC acceleration initiative, Intel is collaborating with over 100 independent software vendors (ISVs) to enhance AI PC experiences in personal assistants, audio effects, content creation, gaming, security, streaming, and video collaboration.

Pavan Davuluri, Vice President of Microsoft's Windows+ Devices Group, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, "Microsoft is proud to work closely with Intel. The launch of Lunar Lake brings revolutionary advancements in security and battery life. We are excited about the NPU's 40+ TOPS of compute power, which enables a broad rollout of the Windows 11 AI PC experience."

Building on the success of its first AI PC processor, Core Ultra, Intel anticipates that Lunar Lake will help the company ship over 40 million AI PC processors in 2024.