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IBM and Oracle Expand Partnership to Advance Agentic AI and Hybrid Cloud

ARMONK, N.Y., May 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ – IBM is working with Oracle to bring the power of watsonx, IBM’s flagship portfolio of AI products, to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Leveraging OCI’s native AI services, the latest milestone in IBM’s technology partnership with Oracle is designed to fuel a new era of multi-agentic, AI-driven productivity and efficiency across the enterprise.

Organizations today are deploying AI throughout their operations, looking to take advantage of the extraordinary advancements in generative AI models, tools, and agents. AI agents that can provide a single, easy-to-use interface to complete tasks are emerging as key tools to help simplify the deployment and use of AI across enterprise operations and functions.

“AI delivers the most impactful value when it works seamlessly across an entire business,” said Greg Pavlik, executive vice president, AI and Data Management Services, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. “IBM and Oracle have been collaborating to drive customer success for decades, and our expanded partnership will provide customers new ways to help transform their businesses with AI.”

Watsonx Orchestrate to support multi-agent workflows

To give customers a consistent way to build and manage agents across multi-agent, multi-system business processes, spanning both Oracle and non-Oracle applications and data sources, IBM is making its watsonx Orchestrate AI agent offerings available on OCI in July. This multi-agent approach using wastonx Orchestrate is designed to work with the expansive AI agent offerings embedded within the Oracle AI Agent Studio for Fusion Applications, as well as OCI Generative AI Agents, and OCI’s other AI services. It extends the ecosystem around Oracle Fusion Applications to enable further functionality across third-party and custom applications and data sources. The first use cases being addressed are in human resources. The watsonx Orchestrate agents will perform AI inferencing on OCI, which many customers use to host their data, AI, and other applications.

IBM agents run in watsonx Orchestrate on Red Hat OpenShift on OCI, including in public, sovereign, government, and Oracle Alloy regions, to enable customers to address specific regulatory and privacy requirements. The agents can also be hosted on-premises or in multicloud environments for true hybrid cloud capabilities.

IBM Granite Models Hosted on OCI Data Science

To give customers more choice of fit-for-purpose, compact and efficient models, Oracle intends to make the IBM Granite family of AI models available through its OCI Data Science via AI Quick Actions. To streamline Granite access, the open-source Granite models are expected to be available within OCI as a cached LLM in the second half of this year.

“By integrating our AI with Oracle’s offerings, we’re enabling businesses to easily deploy and manage AI agents across their enterprise,” said Kareem Yusuf Ph.D, Senior Vice President, Ecosystem, Strategic Partners & Initiatives, IBM. “Our collaboration with Oracle illustrates how IBM and our partners offer clients a seamless and flexible path to scale AI.”

IBM Software to be Available on OCI

Oracle and IBM also plan to make IBM Envizi ESG Suite available on OCI, with an initial release in Saudi Arabia expected within the next 12 months. IBM Envizi is an enterprise sustainability solution that automates the capture, management and reporting of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data.

IBM’s watsonx.ai is now certified to run on OCI, enabling customers to leverage its industry-leading scalability and performance for bare metal and virtual machine instances with the benefits of the Red Hat OpenShift. Watsonx.ai is an enterprise-grade developer studio for building, running, and managing AI applications. Bringing watsonx.ai to OCI can help organizations develop AI services on OCI, where they may already have applications and data, and deploy them into their application of choice with a collection of the APIs, tools, models, and runtimes.

Expanded Oracle Services from IBM Consulting

IBM is introducing expanded consulting services to help customers turn enterprise strategy into enterprise outcomes by enabling the use of AI agents across multiple platforms to transform end-to-end business processes. Leveraging deep technology and industry expertise, IBM Consulting will help customers orchestrate their agentic ecosystem by integrating, building, and scaling AI agents, including native Oracle AI agents, watsonx Orchestrate AI agents, and agents from across IBM’s partner ecosystem. IBM Consulting will also advise customers on how AI agents impact enterprise operating models and the workforce, including change management and enabling new ways of working. IBM consultants bring deep expertise in transforming core business processes like HR and supply chain as well as capabilities in its AI-powered delivery platform, IBM Consulting Advantage, to deliver value quickly.

IBM Consulting is offering new services that leverage AI-powered assets and methods to help Oracle customers migrate their workloads from on-premises virtual machines to Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization on OCI bare metal cloud. This service helps customers migrate and modernize their infrastructure as they deploy with the proven virtualization of the OpenShift container platform running on OCI to provide flexible infrastructure for both legacy applications and AI and hybrid multicloud workloads.

IBM brings deep expertise in business transformation with OCI and Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications, backed by a 38-year strategic partnership spanning technology and services, thousands of consultants who are certified across core Oracle technologies, and the acquisitions of Oracle consultancies Accelalpha and Applications Software Technology LLC.

Oracle and IBM also intend to pilot a joint go-to-market approach in select markets to help bring these new services and capabilities to customers.

“Agents are becoming an important strategic advantage for organizations to optimize operations and deliver better customer and employee experiences,” said Ritu Jyoti, IDC General Manager and Group Vice President. “Today’s most advanced agents are able to interact across different systems and processes, unleashing greater productivity and driving wider adoption. The Agentic AI approach IBM is taking with Oracle is a leading example of how the ability to orchestrate agentic workflows across systems can drive significant advantages, streamlining how work gets done and unlocking growth and innovation.”

For more information about this collaboration between IBM and Oracle, please visit: https://www.ibm.com/consulting/oracle.
Statements regarding IBM’s future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice and represent goals and objectives only.

IBM Delivers Autonomous Security Operations with Cutting-Edge Agentic AI

ARMONK, N.Y., April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — IBM today introduced new agentic and automation capabilities to its managed detection and response service offerings to help enable autonomous security operations and predictive threat intelligence for clients.

IBM is launching Autonomous Threat Operations Machine (ATOM), an agentic AI system providing autonomous threat triage, investigation, and remediation with minimal human intervention. IBM is also introducing the new X-Force Predictive Threat Intelligence (PTI) agent for ATOM, which leverages industry vertical-specific AI foundation models to generate predictive threat insights on potential adversarial activity and minimize manual threat hunting efforts.

“Organizations continue to be challenged by increasingly stealthy and persistent cyber threats, which are slowing detection and response times,” said Mark Hughes, Global Managing Partner for Cybersecurity Services, IBM. “By delivering agentic AI capabilities, IBM is automating threat hunting to help improve detection and response processes so clients can unlock new value from security operations and free up already scarce security resources.”

Autonomous Threat Operations Machine (ATOM)
Powering IBM’s Threat Detection and Response (TDR) services, ATOM’s AI agentic framework and orchestration engine leverages multiple individual agents to augment an organization’s existing security analytics solution and help accelerate threat detection, analyze alerts with enrichment and contextualization, perform risk analysis, create and execute investigation plans, and perform remediation actions which enhance the security analyst experience. This orchestration allows security teams to focus on high priority threats, rather than spending valuable time on false positives or lower-priority risks.

As a global systems integrator and managed security services provider, IBM Consulting helps clients manage their security operations center (SOC) outcomes, including the delivery of AI-based orchestration for threat detection and response. Within the TDR platform, ATOM acts as a vendor-agnostic digital operator and provides AI capabilities that integrate with existing solutions from IBM and partners including Google Cloud, Microsoft, and more.

Predictive Threat Intelligence (PTI)
IBM X-Force Predictive Threat Intelligence (PTI) integrates AI with expert human analysis to help curate proactive threat intelligence. Built on proprietary AI foundational models and trained on cybersecurity data, PTI provides a tailored, contextualized threat intelligence feed and predicts potential threats based on adversary behavior.

To extract early indicators of behavior and compromise, PTI gathers data from more than 100 sources including X-Force Threat Intelligence, open-source RSS feeds, APIs and other automated sources, as well as user-supplied organizational context. PTI synthesizes that information into collective intelligence reports that include recommended threat hunt queries tailored to the organization’s specific needs. By focusing on indicators of behaviors, instead of just indicators of compromise, businesses can get ahead of threats.

RSAC 2025 Conference
This week, during the RSAC 2025 Conference in San Francisco, attendees can find IBM on-stage and at the booth on the Moscone Center’s North expo floor (#N-5871). For more details on IBM’s presence at the RSAC 2025 Conference, visit: https://www.ibm.com/events/rsa-conference.

IBM Acquires Hakkoda Inc., Expanding Data Expertise to Fuel Clients’ AI Transformations

ARMONK, N.Y., April 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has acquired Hakkoda Inc., a leading global data and AI consultancy. Hakkoda will expand IBM Consulting’s data transformation services portfolio, adding specialized data platform expertise to help clients get their data ready to fuel AI-powered business operations.

Hakkoda has leading capabilities in migrating, modernizing, and monetizing data estates and is an award-winning Snowflake partner. This acquisition amplifies IBM’s ability to meet the rapidly growing demand for data services and help clients build integrated enterprise data estates that are optimized for speed, cost and efficiency across multiple business use cases.

Hakkoda also brings a strong portfolio of generative AI powered assets that can speed up data modernization projects. Their industry solutions complement and build on their consultants’ deep expertise in industries like financial services, public sector, and healthcare and life sciences. Hakkoda will further expand IBM’s ability to bring both consulting expertise and AI to clients using its AI-powered delivery platform, IBM Consulting Advantage.

“IBM is at the leading edge of the consulting industry with how we’re supercharging our consultants with AI,” said Mohamad Ali, Senior Vice President and Head of IBM Consulting. “With Hakkoda’s data expertise, deep technology partnerships and asset-centric delivery model, IBM will be even better positioned to deliver value faster to clients as they transform with AI.”

“From the beginning, Hakkoda has committed to being ‘in the arena’, not observing the greatest transformation in history but shaping it,” said Erik Duffield, CEO and Co-founder of Hakkoda. “It is because of this that we are excited to join IBM at this critical moment when organizations are looking for a trusted partner to help them modernize their data for the AI era. IBM’s heritage of innovation, their commitment to discovery and deep partnerships with clients on their most technical challenges is a perfect pairing to take Hakkoda’s industry focused modern data consulting to the global marketplace.”

Estimated global spending for enterprise intelligence services initiatives stands at $169 billion and, with a five-year CAGR of about 13 percent, is expected to grow to more than $243 billion by 2028, according to IDC¹. To extract value from their data, business leaders need a thoughtful data migration strategy and a modern, multi-use case data platform on the cloud.

As an Elite Snowflake partner, Hakkoda brings hundreds of SnowPro core and advanced certifications. They were named the 2024 Snowflake Healthcare & Life Sciences Services Partner of the Year and 2023 Snowflake Americas System Integrator Innovation Partner of the Year. Hakkoda is also an advanced-tier partner of AWS.

Hakkoda is headquartered in New York and brings hundreds of experts across the United States, Latin America, India, Europe, and the United Kingdom to IBM Consulting. For more information on Hakkoda, visit https://hakkoda.io/.

The acquisition closed on April 2, 2025, and financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

IBM and Basque Government announce plan to install Europe’s first IBM Quantum System Two at the IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center in Spain

– IBM Quantum System Two to be powered by a utility-scale 156-qubit IBM Quantum Heron processor.

– Installation of IBM Quantum System Two at the IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

– Members of the IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center intend to use IBM’s most performant architecture to advance discovery and solutions in physics, information science, and materials science.

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Basque Government, and IBM today announced plans to install Europe’s first IBM Quantum System Two at the IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center on Ikerbasque Foundation’s main campus in San Sebastian, Spain (Gipuzkoa, Spain). The deployment builds on the organizations’ partnership, which began in 2023 as part of the BasQ initiative to further establish the Basque Country as a leading technology hub. Since the initial announcement, the parties have agreed to update the original plan to install an IBM Quantum System One, to now deploy IBM’s most advanced modular quantum computer, IBM Quantum System Two, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2025.

BasQ’s IBM Quantum System Two, to be managed by IBM, will be powered by an IBM Quantum Heron, the company’s most performant quantum processor to date, engineered to expand to multiple processors in the future. IBM Heron is capable of executing utility-scale algorithms beyond the capabilities of brute-force, classical simulation methods, including leveraging Qiskit software to accurately run certain classes of quantum circuits with up to 5,000 two-qubit gate operations.

This installation dedicated to Spain’s quantum innovators across academia, research labs, and industries represents IBM’s continued effort to expand Europe’s quantum ecosystem. Members of the IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center will have access to these capabilities and resources to help build a quantum workforce, promote economic development, and develop new, useful algorithms to, in turn, help accomplish the Basque Country Government’s IKUR 2030 vision for quantum technologies. These efforts in algorithm development would be directly applied toward accomplishing IKUR 2030 goals, such as research into modeling new materials, research into how quantum computing can be used as part of the initiative’s broader sustainability efforts.

“With this scientific infrastructure, the Basque Country will be positioned as a global reference hub in quantum computing. This technology will help progress in the digital transformation and provide us with a state-of-the-art scientific infrastructure that will strengthen the scientific, technological and innovation ecosystem that must facilitate this transformation. The IBM Quantum System Two will be a key tool for the Basque Network for Science, Technology and Innovation to generate cutting-edge knowledge in the Basque Country, to implement highly specialized higher education programs at our universities, and to be prepared for the impact of quantum computing in the coming years by both the Basque public sector and the industry. The arrival of this computer will be a great opportunity for the Basque Country’s economic and social development and will enable us to cooperate with other regions, countries and actors in the development and impact of this technology,” said the President of the Basque Country Government, Mr. Imanol Pradales.

“The IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center’s dedicated IBM Quantum System Two will give Spain’s quantum community of researchers, developers, and industry experts unparalleled access to our most performant, most advanced quantum technologies—including the tools to develop algorithms that will help drive the entire quantum ecosystem toward achieving a quantum advantage within the next two years,” said Jay Gambetta, Vice President, IBM Quantum.

2025 Call for Code Engages Developers to Build AI Solutions that Address Social and Humanitarian Issues

In its eighth year, Call for Code presents a series of SDG-focused hackathons throughout the year, kicking off with a competition to build AI agents

BOULDER, Colo., March 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Call for Code Creator David Clark Cause, Founding Partner IBM, Global Impact Partner United Nations Human Rights, and Program Affiliate the Linux Foundation invite developers and problem solvers to participate in the 2025 Call for Code program to create projects and solutions that use AI to help tackle United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Since its launch in 2018, Call for Code has rallied developers globally to come together and create innovative solutions to help solve the world’s largest problems with technology. In 2025, the Call for Code Global Challenge will again ask how AI can address humanitarian issues to make a real difference for communities around the world.

“Call for Code is a unique global tech initiative, that inspires and empowers developers and problem-solvers from around the world to use their talent to innovate for social good,” said David Clark, Founder and CEO of Call for Code. “I am immensely proud that Call for Code, alongside its founding partner IBM, and with UN Human Rights, has helped ensure that technology serves as a catalyst for sustainability, climate and humanitarian action.”

This year, participants will have the opportunity to take part in five qualifying hackathon events as part of the year-long Call for Code Global Challenge in collaboration with IBM’s TechXchange Client Advocacy team. For each event, teams will build an original proof-of-concept solution based on a different SDG with technologies like watsonx, IBM’s portfolio of AI products, and IBM Cloud services. Each hackathon will include a different theme linked to one of the 17 SDGs.

The first qualifying hackathon will be held March 20 through March 31, 2025. In honor of UN World Water Day on March 22, it calls on participants to build a proof-of-concept for an AI virtual agent using watsonx.ai that can be put to work to address an issue that falls under the SDG6: Clean Water and Sanitation. In addition, Call for Code will host a hackathon to tackle SDG 13: Climate Action as part of the 2025 Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit, the world’s largest human rights-based climate forum, hosted by UN Human Rights, the University of Oxford, and co-hosted by leading universities worldwide.

“From the very beginning, UN Human Rights has been honored to support Call for Code, recognizing that technology—when grounded in human rights—can be a powerful force for good,” said Ansar Mahfoudh, head of the Innovation and Analytics Hub at UN Human Rights. “Since helping launch this groundbreaking initiative almost a decade ago, we have supported those projects that champion innovation that serves humanity. We remain committed to ensuring Call for Code grows from strength to strength, by drawing on a community of socially-minded coders who place humans at the centre of tech and innovation solutions.”

“Call for Code is a unique opportunity to get hands-on with AI, build new skills, network with a community of like-minded problem solvers, and create solutions,” said Dinesh Nirmal, IBM Senior Vice President, IBM Software. “This year, there’s no-cost access to industry leading, enterprise-grade IBM software like watsonx.ai for participants. I am excited to see what teams build to make a positive difference.”

Teams, made up of one to five developers, can compete for prizes awarded in each hackathon. The top Call for Code solution from each qualifying hackathon will win $5,000 USD and one conference pass per team member to the IBM TechXchange Conference 2025 in Orlando. This is IBM’s biggest technical learning conference of the year (official rules apply, tickets are non-transferable, and travel and lodging are not included). The qualifying teams will also have the chance to advance to compete for the 2025 Call for Code Global Challenge Grand Prizes, including a top cash prize of $50,000 USD. Top teams will also have the opportunity for open-source project support from the Linux Foundation. Grand prize winners will be announced in December.

IBM to Acquire Applications Software Technology LLC, Bolstering Oracle Expertise to Help Clients Transform Their Operations

ARMONK, N.Y., Jan. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced its intent to acquire Applications Software Technology LLC¹, a global Oracle consultancy. Applications Software Technology brings deep expertise driving business transformations with Oracle Cloud Applications, including for clients in the public sector such as local government and K-12 education.

Public sector cloud transformations frequently face issues that include difficulty transitioning legacy systems, scarce skills or high security and compliance requirements. This acquisition will further enhance IBM’s Oracle solutions to help clients across North America, the UK and Ireland address those complexities and drive lasting results in their digital transformations with Oracle Cloud Applications. It will build on IBM’s 2024 acquisition of Accelalpha, expanding IBM’s ability to help clients deploy, manage and drive value from their Oracle cloud solutions.

“Public sector clients’ cloud transformations often require a consulting partner with industry, domain and technology expertise,” said Kelly Chambliss, Senior Vice President, IBM Consulting, Americas. “The acquisition of Applications Software Technology will boost IBM’s public sector and Oracle Cloud Application skills to help clients confidently navigate their business transformations.”

Applications Software Technology’s large team of consultants brings expertise across the Oracle Cloud Applications Suite, particularly around Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) including Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Oracle Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM), and Oracle Fusion Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ), as well as Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), JD Edwards, and NetSuite. Applications Software Technology also brings expertise and partnerships with Salesforce and MuleSoft, specializing in public sector solutions and more.

This acquisition supports IBM’s open ecosystem approach which allows us to meet clients where they are, bringing together whatever technology and expertise are needed across our expanding partner ecosystem to solve the client challenge.

Applications Software Technology has been an Oracle partner since 1996 and a leading provider of Oracle solutions covering areas like business process redesign and Oracle Cloud deployment. In addition to its strong public sector presence, Applications Software Technology also serves commercial clients in the manufacturing, energy and consumer packaged goods industries.

“We are excited to join IBM and open up new opportunities for our people and expand transformative solutions to deliver business outcomes for our customers,” said Justin Winter, CEO, Applications Software Technology. “Applications Software Technology and IBM have complementary capabilities, client relationships, service offerings and values around our people, innovation and commitment to client success. Together, we will continue to grow in the market for cloud transformation solutions.”

Headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, Applications Software Technology has teams across the US, UK, Canada and India. Notable past acquisitions contributing to its growth include Symatrix Limited, 9EDGE Inc. and Computer Technology Resources Inc. Applications Software Technology is currently a portfolio company of funds managed by Recognize Partners LP. Upon close, Applications Software Technology will join IBM Consulting.

IBM and Oracle’s partnership spans almost 40 years. IBM was named a Leader in the 2023 IDC MarketScape for Oracle Implementation Services Ecosystem Worldwide².

The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

For more information on Applications Software Technology, visit https://astcorporation.com/

Walmart GoLocal and IBM Collaboration Makes Last-Mile Delivery Easier for Retailers

NEW YORK, NY, Jan 13, 2025 – Walmart GoLocal, Walmart’s white-label delivery service for retailers, and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced the integration of Walmart GoLocal into IBM Sterling Order Management, combining a leading order management platform with last-mile delivery. IBM retail clients that sign up with Walmart GoLocal can now quickly integrate Walmart GoLocal’s suite of last-mile delivery solutions into their business system.

Last-mile is often considered the most difficult and costly step in the supply chain, and can be further complicated by rising consumer expectations around shortened delivery timeframes. Walmart GoLocal offers a full range of last-mile solutions to any retailer looking to improve their last-mile delivery and better serve their customers.

The new collaboration aims to simplify the operational workflow for IBM clients looking to partner with Walmart GoLocal for their deliveries. When an order is placed and ready to ship, IBM’s order management system allows for the selection of a delivery service provider, now including Walmart GoLocal’s extensive suite of delivery capabilities including same-day, next-day, multi-day, scheduled, batched deliveries and big & bulky. Additionally, the integration is designed to be user-friendly and highly customizable, mitigating the need for extensive development or complex modifications.

“As a last-mile delivery partner built by retail, for retail, Walmart GoLocal is committed to streamlining the last-mile delivery process for our clients,” said Rina Hurst, vice president of Walmart GoLocal. “By integrating Walmart GoLocal into IBM Sterling, we’re taking convenience to the next level. IBM customers can now tap into Walmart GoLocal’s extensive last-mile delivery network and robust suite of delivery capabilities, empowering them to enhance efficiency and grow their business.”

“I’m excited to see IBM’s expertise in order management and interoperability paired with Walmart GoLocal’s experience and scale, driving innovation and success in inventory optimization and last-mile delivery,” said Chris Townsend, global managing director for Walmart at IBM.

Walmart GoLocal and IBM will showcase their collaboration at the National Retail Federation 2025 conference and expo (NRF 25) and will host a joint fireside chat at IBM Booth #4639 with Hurst and Townsend on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 at 11:30 am ET.

For more information on Walmart GoLocal, visit www.walmartgolocal.com. For more information on IBM, visit https://www.ibm.com/us-en.

About Walmart GoLocal

Walmart GoLocal offers businesses white-labeled, reliable delivery and fulfillment solutions. Backed by Walmart’s deep retail and logistics expertise, Walmart GoLocal partners with retailers and other businesses to activate delivery and fulfillment solutions to grow and scale their businesses. Launched in August 2021, Walmart GoLocal has enabled millions of deliveries for businesses nationwide with a 98%+ on-time, same-day delivery rate and no hidden fees. For more information on Walmart GoLocal, visit www.walmartgolocal.com.

IBM Brings the Speed of Light to the Generative AI Era with Optics Breakthrough

New co-packaged optics innovation could replace electrical interconnects in data centers to offer significant improvements in speed and energy efficiency for AI and other computing applications

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. – Dec. 9, 2024: IBM has unveiled breakthrough research in optics technology that could dramatically improve how data centers train and run generative AI models. Researchers have pioneered a new process for co-packaged optics (CPO), the next generation of optics technology, to enable connectivity within data centers at the speed of light through optics to complement existing short reach electrical wires. By designing and assembling the first publicly announced successful polymer optical waveguide (PWG) to power this technology, IBM researchers have shown how CPO will redefine the way the computing industry transmits high-bandwidth data between chips, circuit boards, and servers.

Today, fiber optic technology carries data at high speeds across long distances, managing nearly all the world’s commerce and communications traffic with light instead of electricity. Although data centers use fiber optics for their external communications networks, racks in data centers still predominantly run communications on copper-based electrical wires. These wires connect GPU accelerators that may spend more than half of their time idle, waiting for data from other devices in a large, distributed training process which can incur significant expense and energy.

IBM researchers have demonstrated a way to bring optics’ speed and capacity inside data centers. In a technical paper, IBM introduces a new CPO prototype module that can enable high-speed optical connectivity. This technology could significantly increase the bandwidth of data center communications, minimizing GPU downtime while drastically accelerating AI processing. This research innovation, as described, would enable:

Lower costs for scaling generative AI through a more than 5x power reduction in energy consumption compared to mid-range electrical interconnects, while extending the length of data center interconnect cables from one to hundreds of meters.
Faster AI model training, enabling developers to train a Large Language Model (LLM) up to five times faster with CPO than with conventional electrical wiring. CPO could reduce the time it takes to train a standard LLM from three months to three weeks, with performance gains increasing by using larger models and more GPUs.
Dramatically increased energy efficiency for data centers, saving the energy equivalent of 5,000 U.S. homes’ annual power consumption per AI model trained.

“As generative AI demands more energy and processing power, the data center must evolve – and co-packaged optics can make these data centers future-proof,” said Dario Gil, SVP and Director of Research at IBM. “With this breakthrough, tomorrow’s chips will communicate much like how fiber optics cables carry data in and out of data centers, ushering in a new era of faster, more sustainable communications that can handle the AI workloads of the future.”

Eighty times faster bandwidth than today’s chip-to-chip communication

In recent years, advances in chip technology have densely packed transistors onto a chip; IBM’s 2 nanometer node chip technology can contain more than 50 billion transistors. CPO technology aims to scale the interconnection density between accelerators by enabling chipmakers to add optical pathways connecting chips on an electronic module beyond the limits of today’s electrical pathways. IBM’s paper outlines how these new high bandwidth density optical structures, coupled with transmitting multiple wavelengths per optical channel, have the potential to boost bandwidth between chips as much as 80 times compared to electrical connections.

IBM’s innovation, as described, would enable chipmakers to add six times as many optical fibers at the edge of a silicon photonics chip, called “beachfront density,” compared to the current state-of-the-art CPO technology. Each fiber, about three times the width of a human hair, could span centimeters to hundreds of meters in length and transmit terabits of data per second. The IBM team assembled a high-density PWG at 50 micrometer pitch optical channels, adiabatically coupled to silicon photonics waveguides, using standard assembly packaging processes.

The paper additionally indicates that these CPO modules with PWG at 50 micrometer pitch are the first to pass all stress tests required for manufacturing. Components are subjected to high-humidity environments and temperatures ranging from -40°C to 125°C, as well as mechanical durability testing to confirm that optical interconnects can bend without breaking or losing data. Moreover, researchers have demonstrated PWG technology to an 18-micrometer pitch. Stacking four PWGs would allow for up to 128 channels for connectivity at that pitch.

IBM’s continued leadership in semiconductor R&D

CPO technology enables a new pathway to meet AI’s increasing performance demands, with the potential to replace off-module communications from electrical to optical. It continues IBM’s history of leadership in semiconductor innovation, which also includes the first 2 nm node chip technology, the first implementation of 7 nm and 5 nm process technologies, Nanosheet transistors, vertical transistors (VTFET), single cell DRAM, and chemically amplified photoresists.

Researchers completed design, modeling, and simulation work for CPO in Albany, New York, which the U.S. Department of Commerce recently selected as the home of America’s first National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), the NSTC EUV Accelerator. Researchers assembled prototypes and tested modules at IBM’s facility in Bromont, Quebec, one of North America’s largest chip assembly and test sites. Part of the Northeast Semiconductor Corridor between the United States and Canada, IBM’s Bromont fab has led the world in chip packaging for decades.

Wasabi Expands Data Management Offerings for UK Customers

Liverpool Football Club will leverage Wasabi AiR to securely power AI-driven content

BOSTON —Wasabi Technologies today announced it is expanding their data management offerings for customers with the addition of IBM Cloud’s London data center to Wasabi’s storage regions. Wasabi’s ability to leverage IBM’s Multizone Region (MZR) addresses the need to help joint customers address their evolving regulatory requirements and leverage AI and other emerging technologies with a secured, enterprise cloud platform.

The influx of data associated with AI has the potential to fuel numerous business innovations, but it also introduces complexities where data resides and requires regulatory and global compliance considerations. Wasabi’s deployment of a new storage region in IBM’s London MZR aims to help new and existing UK customers utilizing Wasabi AiR, an intelligent media storage solution for the sports, media, and entertainment segment address their data residency requirements. Wasabi AiR customers such as Liverpool Football Club (LFC) in the Premier League, will be able to access and leverage key sports data, securely across a hybrid cloud infrastructure and unlock the joint power of this expansion. This underscores Wasabi’s role as a trusted Official Partner and provider for LFC, reinforcing Wasabi’s strategic positioning within the industry.

IBM and Wasabi are both committed to helping clients innovate with AI, while addressing the data management and resiliency needs of their workloads. IBM Cloud MZRs are composed of three or more data center zones with each being an Availability Zone. This is designed so that a single failure event can affect only a single data center rather than all zones – the aim is to deliver consistent cloud services and greater resiliency. Clients hosting workloads on IBM Cloud MZRs in any country can run mission-critical workloads to keep business up and running.

“Wasabi’s expanded footprint with IBM’s London data region allows Wasabi to address the evolving regulatory and performance needs of our UK customers,” said Marty Falaro, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Wasabi. “By leveraging IBM’s Multizone Region infrastructure, we’re able to support AI-driven requirements with secured, high-performance storage. We’re excited to work closely with IBM to deliver scalable data solutions that empower organizations to unlock the full potential of their data.”

Last year, IBM and Wasabi began collaborating to drive data innovation across hybrid cloud environments for sports, media and entertainment clients such as the Boston Red Sox. This collaboration is designed to enable enterprises to run applications across any environment—on premises, in the cloud or at the edge—and help users to cost efficiently access and use key business data and analytics in real time.

“We’re excited to support Wasabi’s growth into the IBM Cloud London MZR,” Alan Peacock, general manager, IBM Cloud. “We’ve invested to help ensure partners have access to a diverse set of capabilities in the regions they operate in. Our work with Wasabi will enable their clients to benefit from the security, resiliency and performance capabilities of our cloud platform.”

IBM Expands its AI Accelerator Offerings; Announces Collaboration with AMD

IBM Cloud to Deploy AMD Instinct™ MI300X Accelerators to Support Performance for Generative AI Workloads and HPC Applications

November 18, 2024 – Armonk, NY – IBM and AMD have announced a collaboration to deploy AMD Instinct MI300X accelerators as a service on IBM Cloud. This offering, which is expected to be available in the first half of 2025, aims to enhance performance and power efficiency for Gen AI models such as and high-performance computing (HPC) applications for enterprise clients. This collaboration will also enable support for AMD Instinct MI300X accelerators within IBM’s watsonx AI and data platform, as well as Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® AI inferencing support.

“As enterprises continue adopting larger AI models and datasets, it is critical that the accelerators within the system can process compute-intensive workloads with high performance and flexibility to scale,” said Philip Guido, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, AMD. “AMD Instinct accelerators combined with AMD ROCm software offer wide support including IBM watsonx AI, Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI and Red Hat OpenShift AI platforms to build leading frameworks using these powerful open ecosystem tools. Our collaboration with IBM Cloud will aim to allow customers to execute and scale Gen AI inferencing without hindering cost, performance or efficiency.”

“AMD and IBM Cloud share the same vision around bringing AI to enterprises. We’re committed to bringing the power of AI to enterprise clients, helping them prioritize their outcomes and ensuring they have the power of choice when it comes to their AI deployments,” said Alan Peacock, General Manager of IBM Cloud. “Leveraging AMD’s accelerators on IBM Cloud will give our enterprise clients another option to scale to meet their enterprise AI needs, while also aiming to help them optimize cost and performance.”

IBM and AMD are collaborating to deliver MI300X accelerators as a service on IBM Cloud to support enterprise clients leveraging AI. To help enterprise clients across industries, including those that are heavily regulated, IBM and AMD intend to leverage IBM Cloud’s security and compliance capabilities.

Support for Large Model Inferencing: Equipped with 192GB of high-bandwidth memory (HBM3), AMD Instinct MI300X accelerators offer support for the largest model inferencing and fine tuning. The large memory capacity can also help customers run larger models with fewer GPUs, potentially lowering costs for inferencing.
Enhanced Performance and Security: Offering AMD Instinct MI300X accelerators as a service on IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC, as well as through container support with IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service and IBM Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud, can help optimize performance for enterprises running AI applications.

For generative AI inferencing workloads, IBM plans to enable support for AMD Instinct MI300X accelerators within IBM’s watsonx AI and data platform, providing watsonx clients with additional AI infrastructure resources for scaling their AI workloads across hybrid cloud environments. Additionally, Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI and Red Hat OpenShift AI platforms can run Granite family large language models (LLMs) with alignment tooling using InstructLab on MI300X accelerators.

IBM Cloud with AMD Instinct MI300X accelerators are expected to be generally available in the first half of 2025. Stay tuned for more updates from AMD and IBM in the coming months.

To learn more about IBM’s GPU and Accelerator offerings, visit: https://www.ibm.com/cloud/gpu

Statements regarding IBM’s future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice and represent goals and objectives only.

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