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

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

Intel Is Doubling Down on Its GPU Roadmap With The Latest Hiring of GPU Architect, Eric Demers, Who Spearheaded Qualcomm's Adreno & AMD GPU Designs

Well, this is a big one and shows Intel's commitment to accelerating its GPU roadmap further. The Blue Team has recruited former Qualcomm and AMD GPU architect Eric Demers, who announced his new job at LinkedIn.

Eric is well known for his work at Qualcomm and AMD, but before those, he also worked at SGI and ArtX as a graphics architect and designer. At AMD, Eric initially joined as a Design manager before moving upwards to the positions of Manager of the architecture team and Senior Architect.

He worked at AMD for almost 10 years before moving to Qualcomm, where he was positioned as the VP of engineering for 9 years and then took the head role of the Senior Vice President of Engineering. His major works at Qualcomm include the lead development of Qualcomm's graphics hardware, namely their Adreno GPU architecture and the respective products.

In his LinkedIn post, Eric states that he has been in talks with Intel's CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, for the past few months and has been really impressed with him and the vision he has undertaken for Intel. Eric will be joining the Intel family next week, and he feels rejuvenated under a new team and some old friends at Intel.

Although no major announcements or indications have been made as to what Eric will be taking charge of or what he will be working on, his experience as a GPU architect shows that Intel is going all-in on the GPU front.

As of right now, Intel has introduced its brand new Xe3 architecture, which has taken the spotlight at CES. But that's the consumer front; Eric is likely going to tackle Intel's AI and Data Center chip designs. Intel has some major products already underway, such as Crescent Island, which leverages the next-generation Xe3p architecture and has also teased Jaguar Shores. These two GPU products will give us a true taste of what Intel's graphics division can do under Lip-Bu Tan.

Intel's past GPU ventures, especially in the datacenter and AI segment, didn't turn out to be massive successes.

Ponte Vecchio was a truly ambitious chip, but poor yields and packaging constraints led to various delays, which led to the one major product it was going to be featured on, the Aurora supercomputer, being pushed back several years. Intel's efforts with Gaudi failed to hit even a modest $500 million in revenue. So these future GPU IPs have a lot riding on them.

We wish the best of luck to Eric and all of his future endeavors in his personal life and at Intel. We would love to see what Intel has to offer in terms of GPU IPs in the future, as its position as a 3rd player in this crucial segment will have wider implications on the entire graphics segment.

News Source: CRN

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