Computex 2024: How are AMD, Intel and Nvidia Addressing AI Chips and Energy Efficiency?

Major chip rivals -- including AMD, Intel and Nvidia -- announced their next-generation AI chip strategies this week at the Computex 2024 conference in Taipei, Taiwan.

The big announcements came straight from the top -- including vision statements from AMD CEO Lisa Su, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

AI Chips and Data Center Energy Consumption: Reasons for Concern

Predictably, each company touted various performance gains and long-term product roadmaps. But some critics worry artificial intelligence (AI) chip deployments will trigger exponential energy consumption from cloud service providers (CSPs) and data centers.

Among the market forecasts to note:

• Electricity consumption from data centers, artificial intelligence (AI) and the cryptocurrency sector could double by 2026, according to an International Energy Agency report.
• For 88% of those who have adopted AI, the need for computing power is up dramatically. Nearly half (47%) have had to double their computing power or more since adopting AI, a survey from  Pure Storage and Wakefield Research found.
•  AI could consume up to 3.5% of the world’s electricity by 2030, Gartner predicts

Unfortunately, official Computex 2024 press announcements from AMD and Nvidia rarely mentioned energy efficiency and power management strategies for their respective next-generation chips. In contrast, Intel touted "leading-edge power efficiency" in its announcement. Here's a sampling of the announcements...

AMD Instinct Accelerator, Ryzen Developments

• AMD shared its Instinct accelerator roadmap along with AI software ecosystem milestones. The main announcement did not mention energy efficiency or power consumption. Instead, AMD vowed to deliver a "35x generational increase in AI inference performance" in 2025.
• Dig a little deeper, and AMD mentioned power efficiency gains from the AMD XDNA 2 NPU core architecture, and energy efficiency gains from a Zen 5 CPU core.
• A Zen 5 Ryzen announcement barely mentioned power consumption and energy efficiency.
• An AMD announcement focused on data center and AI innovation did not mention energy efficiency at all.

Intel Xeon 6 Processors, Lunar Lake for AI PCs

• Intel emphasized Xeon 6 processors with "Efficient-cores (E-cores), delivering performance and power efficiency for high-density, scale-out workloads in the data center."
• The company announced pricing for Intel Gaudi 2 and Gaudi 3 AI accelerator kits.
• Intel unveiled Lunar Lake -- a client processor architecture for AI PCs that supports legacy x86 applications while delivering "up to 40% lower system-on-chip (SoC) power when compared with the previous generation."
• We don't know how the efficiency claims stack up against AMD and Nvidia, but Intel at least put the spotlight on power efficiency in the AI data center era.

Nvidia AI Chip Strategy, Developer Tools, Networking and Software Milestones

• NVIDIA NIM, available now, allows developers to build generative AI applications "in minutes rather than weeks."
• The company touted advancements for the healthcare, industrial and scientific AI applications.
• New ACE generative AI microservices allow customers to "simplify creating, animating and operating lifelike digital humans across customer service, telehealth, gaming and entertainment."
• The company vowed to accelerate its product release schedule for Spectrum-X Ethernet networking products.
• Nvidia and several industry partners touted the energy efficiency of Blackwell-powered systems.

Admittedly, we've oversimplified the press announcements. And we did not attend keynotes from each company. So we don't have a 360 degree view of what each company shared at the conference.

Still, the formal media efforts -- actual corporate-approved press releases -- didn't describe how AI data centers will effectively scale without triggering massive energy requirements.

Net Zero Strategies: AMD, Intel and Nvidia

In May 2024, we asked Nvidia if the company had an official net-zero timeline and chief sustainability officer in place. We've yet to hear back from the company on that inquiry. As of 2023, AMD was still developing its own net-zero plan. And Intel's strategy addresses scope 1 and scope 2 emissions goals, but does not yet mention scope 3 (supply chain) emissions reduction goals.

Still, customers and partners seem to have an endless appetite for AI chips. Among the proof points to note: Nvidia revenue was $26.0 billion in Q1 of 2025, up 262% from Q1 of 2024.

AI and Managed Energy Services: An Opportunity for MSPs, Channel Partners?

Amid AI's massive energy requirements, managed energy services could be an emerging opportunity for channel partners and MSPs.

Most MSPs (managed IT service providers) already monitor IT infrastructure, endpoints, data, applications, cloud services and plenty more. Some leading MSPs now offer carbon monitoring, energy monitoring and energy management. 

First-movers include Logicalis, a major IT service provider that provides CIOs and customers with "the insights they need to improve both the environmental and business impact of their digital ecosystem." Amid that Logicalis innovation, Cisco Systems named Logicalis as its sustainability partner of the year for 2023.

Meanwhile, some software companies now develop SMB sustainability tools for MSPs. One example: PC Powersave develops software to reduce computer energy consumption and generate environmental reports for MSPs and their customers. PC Powersave is part of PitchIT 2024 -- an incubator that fosters more software in the ConnectWise ecosystem for MSPs.

Green IT Playbook for MSPs, IT Departments

How can IT departments and MSPs align their technology initiatives with overall sustainability strategies? Some clues and guidance emerged in this Green IT Playbook -- developed by Rackspace Technology and Smart Columbus, in partnership with the Green IT Working Group.

Note: Did we miss or overlook sustainability-related news or statements from Computex 2024? If so, please email me the details: Joe@MentoreVentures.com.