According to CRN Intel plans to slash the "Intel Inside" program by 40-60%-- cuts that will "reverberate through the industry," bringing about anything from PC prices increases to marketing cutbacks.

An anonymous source described as a "top executive for a major Intel partner" says funds making the program are being shifted towards driving datacentre business, "giving more to the data side of the house instead of compute." This means Chipzilla is moving dollars in other areas or keeping them in house, all in the name of improving profit and margins.

Meanwhile, an unidentified "CEO of a major solution provider" adds the funding cut will bring a "ripple effect" across the Intel ecosystem, before saying it is "disappointing, but it's not surprising," considering the cost challenges the company currently faces. Another CRN source simply says that he has "moved on" and partnered with other CPU makers, such as AMD.

Intel takes on the likes of Nvidia with the presentation of the Nervana Neural Network Processor (NNP), a range of chips designed for artificial intelligence applications.

Previously codenamed "Lake Crest," the NNP is based on technology from Nervana Systems, a deep learning hardware startup Chipzilla acquired for $350 million back in August 2017. Also helping is Facebook, who provided a number of technical insights. As presented at the Wall Street Journal's D.Live 2017 event, the NNP is a high-performance ASIC custom-designed and optimised for deep learning workloads, and looks to replace GPUs in machine learning and AI.

The NNP is a "neuromorphic" chip, meaning it is inspired by the structure of the human brain. Such a design allows it to make decisions based on patterns and association, as well as get smarter over time, making it ideal for cognitive tasks ranging from recognising images, interpreting cardiac rhythms, detecting security anomalies and even composing music.

Microsoft Ventures, the venture fund of the Windows maker, announces a search for promising startups working in the field of artificial intelligence through a global competition, Innovate.AI.

Launched in collaboration with Madrona Ventures, Notion Capital and Vertex Ventures Israel, the competition awards $1 million in funding and $500000 in Azure credits to one startup in three regions, namely N. America, EU and Israel. In addition, a 4th "AI for Good" prize consisting in $500000 in funding and $500000 in Azure Credits goes to the applicant that "best leverages AI to better society."

Dell sets sights on the Internet of Things (IoT) as it opens a division focusing on the technology, together with specific products, labs, partner programs and consumption models.

The Dell IoT Division is lead by VMware CTO Ray O'Farrell, and will tie together IoT developments from across the company. Over the next 3 years it will also receive a $1bn investment for the development of products, solutions, labs, partner programs and ecosystem. For instance, the company names "Project Nautilus" (a piece of Dell EMC software to handle the data streams from IoT gateways in real-time), "Project Fire" (a hyperconverged platform aimed at faster IoT rollouts with consistent infrastructure from edge to core to cloud) and "Project IRIS" (an RSA Labs development to extend security analytics capabilities to the IoT).

Intel launches the 8th generation of Coffee Lake desktop processors-- a CPU family built using a 14nm process aimed at "content creators and overclockers who require premium performance."

The Coffee Lake family ranges from Core i3 to i7 and, in company firsts, includes a 6-core Core i5 desktop processor and the 4-core i3 desktop processor. For maximum performance Chipzilla offers unlocked "K" processors with per-core overclocking, max memory ratio up to 8400 MT/s, real-time memory latency control, extended PLL trim controls, enhanced package power delivery and updated Intel Extreme Tuning Utility and Extreme Memory Profile.

In further performance enhancements, Intel promises 32% faster (when compared to the previous generation) 4K 360-degree video editing, or up to 65% faster editing compared to a 3-year old PC. All processors also support Z370 chipset-based motherboards.

Avedon Capital Partners creates a combined leading global visual communications company through the acquisition and merger of specialists VisionsConnected and Viju.

Financial details of the deal are not available.

According to the owner, the new combined company will be a specialist in the design, servicing and support of physical and virtual meeting room environments for customers with a need for videoconferencing, collaboration and AV solutions. It will have an HQ in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and will service customers in over 120 countries across EMEA, USA and APAC.