Former Qualcomm & AMD GPU Architect Eric Demers Joins Intel To Accelerate Graphics & AI Roadmap

Intel has hired former Qualcomm & AMD GPU architect Eric Demers, who has confirmed his move to the blue team in a recent post on LinkedIn.

Intel Doubles Down on Its GPU Roadmap With Hiring Newest GPU Architect, Eric Demers, Who Spearheaded Qualcomm’s Adreno & AMD GPU Design

This is a big deal and shows Intel’s commitment to accelerating its GPU roadmap even further. The Blue Team has hired former Qualcomm and AMD GPU architect Eric Demers, who announced his new job on LinkedIn.

Eric is best known for his work at Qualcomm and AMD, but previously, he also worked at SGI and ArtX as an architect and graphic designer. At AMD, Eric initially joined as a Design Manager before rising to the positions of architecture team Manager and Senior Architect.

He worked at AMD for nearly 10 years before moving to Qualcomm, where he served as VP of engineering for 9 years and then served as Senior Vice President of Engineering. His primary work at Qualcomm included major development of Qualcomm’s graphics hardware, namely the Adreno GPU architecture and its respective products.

In his LinkedIn post, Eric stated that he had been in talks with Intel CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, over the past few months and was very impressed with the CEO and the vision he had created for Intel. Eric will be joining the Intel family next week, and he feels refreshed under a new team and some old friends at Intel.

While there have been no major announcements or indications as to what Eric will lead or what he will be working on, his experience as a GPU architect suggests that Intel is going all out when it comes to GPUs.

Today, Intel has introduced its latest Xe3 architecture, which was in the spotlight at CES. But that’s the consumer side; Eric will likely handle Intel’s AI and Data Center chip design. Intel has some big products in the pipeline, such as Crescent Island, which takes advantage of the next-gen Xe3p architecture and is also teasing Jaguar Shores. These two GPU products will give us a true look at what Intel’s graphics division can do under Lip-Bu Tan.

Intel’s past GPU efforts, especially in the data center and AI segments, have not yielded much success.

Ponte Vecchio was a truly ambitious chip, but poor yields and packaging challenges led to various delays, causing one major product that would feature it, the Aurora supercomputer, to be pushed back several years. Intel’s efforts with Gaudi failed to achieve revenues of $500 million. So this future GPU IP has a lot going for it.

We wish Eric and all his future endeavors the best in his personal life and at Intel. We’re eager to see what Intel has to offer in terms of GPU IP in the future, as its position as the third player in this important segment will have a broader impact on the entire graphics segment.

News Source: CRN

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