Habana Labs goes for $2 billion, adds a boost to silicon market

Intel Corporation has acquired Habana Labs for $2 billion.

Habana Labs is an Israel-based developer of programmable deep learning accelerators for data centers. The deal will deepen Intel’s artificial intelligence (AI) portfolio. It also accelerates Intel’s efforts into the fast-growing AI silicon market, which it expects to top $25 billion by 2024.

“This acquisition advances our AI strategy, which is to provide customers with solutions to fit every performance need – from the intelligent edge to the data center,” said Navin Shenoy, executive vice president and general manager of the Data Platforms Group at Intel. “More specifically, Habana turbo-charges our AI offerings for the data center with a high-performance training processor family and a standards-based programming environment to address evolving AI workloads.”

In 2019, Intel expects to generate over $3.5 billion in AI-driven revenue. That figure is up more than 20 percent year-over-year. Prior to this transaction, Intel Capital was an investor in Habana.

Intel Corporation and AI

Habana will remain an independent business unit. Its current management team will continue to operate the firm.

Habana will report to Intel’s Data Platforms Group, home to Intel’s broad portfolio of data center-class AI technologies. This combination gives Habana access to Intel AI capabilities, including significant resources built over the last three years.

Habana chairman Avigdor Willenz has agreed to serve as a senior adviser to the business unit and to Intel. Habana will continue to be based in Israel where Intel also has a significant presence.

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