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Intel, Alibaba Partner on AI-Based Edge Computing Platform for IoT
Intel Corp. and the cloud division within Alibaba on Thursday announced the Joint Edge Computing Platform, a new artificial intelligence-based "open" architecture for Internet of Things (IoT) projects focused on edge computing.
According to the companies, Joint Edge Computing Platform will be a device-to-cloud platform for industrial, enterprise and smart building IoT use cases that brings together Intel software and hardware, as well as Alibaba Cloud IoT products.
"Combining the prominent strengths of Intel and Alibaba Cloud IoT, this platform provides best-in-class computing capabilities, including AI," commented Thomas Lantzsch, Intel's senior vice president and general manager of the Internet of Things Group, in a prepared statement announcing the release (PDF). "Its compelling success story in the industrial sector reaffirms our conviction that the intersection of cloud and edge computing will enable more enterprises to achieve efficiency improvements, to gain actionable insights and to capture market opportunities ahead of their competition."
The solution will featureAlibaba's Link Edge solution -- for "edge-to-IoT device" communication connection, according to the announcement -- as well as its AliOS Things operating system. Intel's portion includes the OpenVino AI-based surveillance toolkit, announced in May, as well as its processors and other hardware.
"Alibaba Cloud IoT has since day one, been committed to driving innovation in industries with leading solutions," commented Ku Wei, general manager of the IoT business unit of Alibaba Cloud Computing, also in a prepared statement. "This win-win cooperation with Intel will provide a strong backing for the IoT-driven development and smart upgrading of Chinese enterprises."
The companies also announced a second partnership at the same time: "Intel and Alibaba will jointly explore v2x usage model with respect to 5G communication and edge computing based on the Intel Network Edge Virtualization Software Development Kit."
While the solution is currently being used by several partners, a general release date for the platform was not provided.
About the Author
Becky Nagel is the vice president of Web & Digital Strategy for 1105's Converge360 Group, where she oversees the front-end Web team and deals with all aspects of digital projects at the company, including launching and running the group's popular virtual summit and Coffee talk series . She an experienced tech journalist (20 years), and before her current position, was the editorial director of the group's sites. A few years ago she gave a talk at a leading technical publishers conference about how changes in Web browser technology would impact online advertising for publishers. Follow her on twitter @beckynagel.