Google, Intel, Qualcomm fighting NVIDIA's dominance on AI GPUs, with CUDA software alternative

NVIDIA is absolutely dominating the AI GPU business with a purported 90% of the AI market taken by Team Green, but now a coalition of tech companies, including Google, Intel, and Qualcomm, are fighting back... they want to take down CUDA a notch or three.

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In a new report by Reuters, the site says that Google, Intel, and Qualcomm have "plans to loosen NVIDIA chokehold by going after the chip giant's secret weapon: the software that keeps developed tied to NVIDIA chips," which is CUDA. Reuters continues, adding "they are part of an expanding group of financiers and companies hacking away at NVIDIA's dominance in AI".

Vinesh Sukumar, Qualcomm's head of AI and machine learning, told Reuters: "We're actually showing developers how you migrate out from an NVIDIA platform".

• Read more: Intel CEO on NVIDIA and AI: 'entire industry is motivated to eliminate the CUDA market'

Intel will bring a piece of technology it developed called OneAPI, the UXL Foundation, a consortium of technology companies plan to build a suite of software and tools that will allow to power multiple types of AI accelerator chips, "executives involved with the group told Reuters". The open-source project will make computer code run on any machine, no matter what chip or hardware is inside.

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Google's director and chief technologist of high-performance computing, Bill Magro, told Reuters in an interview: "It's about specifically - in the context of machine learning frameworks - how do we create an open ecosystem, and promote productivity and choice in hardware".

NVIDIA executive Ian Buck said in a statement: "The world is getting accelerated. New ideas in accelerated computing are coming from all across the ecosystem, and that will help advance AI and the scope of what accelerated computing can achieve".