The deal is worth approximately $2 billion, and Intel says it'll strengthen its AI strategy as Habana begins to sample its proprietary silicon to customers.

Habana -- which previously raised $75 million in venture capital last November -- will remain an independent business unit and will continue to be led by its current management team, and it'll report to Intel's data platforms group. Chairman Avigdor Willenz (pictured) will serve as a senior adviser to the business unit as well as to Intel.

Chipzilla's executive vice president and general manager of the data platforms group at Intel Navin Shenoy said the acquisition advances Intel's AI strategy, which is to provide customers with solutions to fit every performance need -- from the intelligent edge to the data centre.

"More specifically, Habana turbo-charges our AI offerings for the data centre with a high-performance training processor family and a standards-based programming environment to address evolving AI. Habana offers two silicon products targeting workloads in AI and machine learning: the Gaudi AI Training Processor and the Goya AI Inference Processor", Shenoy said.

Shenoy continued: “We know that customers are looking for ease of programmability with purpose-built AI solutions, as well as superior, scalable performance on a wide variety of workloads and neural network topologies. That’s why we’re thrilled to have an AI team of Habana’s calibre with a proven track record of execution joining Intel. Our combined IP and expertise will deliver unmatched computing performance and efficiency for AI workloads in the data centre.”

Intel added that Habana’s Goya AI Inference Processor, which is commercially available, had demonstrated excellent inference performance including throughput and real-time latency in a highly competitive power envelope.