Intel says its computer chips will accelerate AI revolution

Intel might be an old-school computing company, but the chipmaker thinks the latest trends in artificial intelligence will keep it an important part of your high-tech life.

AI technology called machine learning today is instrumental to taking good photos, translating languages, recognizing your friends on Facebook, delivering search results, screening out spam and many other chores. It usually uses an approach called neural networks that works something like a human brain, not a sequence of if-this-then-that steps as in traditional computing.

Lots of companies, including Apple, Google, Qualcomm and Nvidia, are designing chips to accelerate this sort of work. But on Tuesday, Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich promised a major speed increase through its own chips, designed from the ground up for neural processing.

"We have a goal by 2020 to be 100 times better than the best AI systems out there today using this neural processing," Krzanich said at the Wall Street Journal D.Live conference.