IBM announced its new Power11 line of data center chips and servers on Tuesday, marking its first major update to the “Power” series since 2020. The company is positioning the new hardware as a more power-efficient and secure alternative to rivals like Intel and AMD, with a unique focus on simplifying the use of artificial intelligence in everyday business operations.
Unlike competitors focused on raw processing power, IBM is emphasizing reliability and security. The company claims the new Power11 systems will require no planned downtime for software updates and can detect and respond to a ransomware attack in under a minute.
Crucially, IBM is carving out a specific niche for itself in the AI hardware race. Tom McPherson, the general manager of Power Systems, clarified that IBM does not aim to compete with Nvidia in the massive task of training large AI models.
Instead, the Power11 is designed for AI inference—the process of applying an already trained AI to practical tasks.
This strategy targets IBM’s existing enterprise customers in sectors like finance and manufacturing. The goal is to provide a seamless way for them to integrate AI capabilities directly into their business processes, thereby improving efficiency. The Power11 systems will be available from July 25, with plans to integrate them with IBM’s Spyre AI chip later this year.
