Companies announce plan to deploy high-powered
deep learning artificial intelligence software at a massive global
scale
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 12,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai
Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud company that powers and
protects life online, and Neural Magic, a developer of software
that accelerates artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, today
announced a strategic partnership intended to supercharge deep
learning capabilities on Akamai's distributed computing
infrastructure. The combined solution gives enterprises a
high-performing platform to run deep learning AI software
efficiently on CPU-based servers. As an Akamai Qualified Computing
Partner, Neural Magic's software will be made available alongside
the products and services that power the world's most distributed
platform for cloud computing, security, and content delivery.
Neural Magic's solution enables deep learning models to run on
cost-efficient CPU-based servers rather than on expensive GPU
resources. The software accelerates AI workloads using automated
model sparsification technologies, available as a CPU inference
engine, complementing Akamai's ability to scale, protect, and
deliver applications at the edge. This allows the companies to
deploy the capabilities across Akamai's globally distributed
computing infrastructure, offering organizations lower latency and
improved performance for data-intensive AI applications.
Moreover, the partnership can help foster innovation around
edge-AI inference across a host of industries. The combined
capabilities of Akamai and Neural Magic are particularly well
suited for applications in which massive amounts of input data are
generated close to the edge, placing affordable processing power
and security closer to the data sources. Akamai recently announced
a new Generalized Edge Compute (Gecko) initiative to embed cloud
computing capabilities into its massive edge network, which will
ultimately help support such applications and workloads among many
others.
"Delivering AI models efficiently at the edge is a bigger
challenge than most people realize," said John O'Hara, SVP of Engineering and COO at
Neural Magic. "Specialized or expensive hardware and
associated power and delivery requirements are not always available
or feasible, leaving organizations to effectively miss out on
leveraging the benefits of running AI inference at the edge."
"We intend to make AI smarter and faster," said Ramanath Iyer, Chief Strategist at Akamai.
"Scaling Neural Magic's unique capabilities to run deep learning
inference models across Akamai gives organizations access to
much-needed cost efficiencies and higher performance as they move
swiftly to adopt AI applications."
Akamai and Neural Magic share a common origin, both having been
born out of Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT). They continue
to maintain their respective corporate headquarters nearby.
The Akamai Qualified Computing Partner Program is designed to
make solution-based services that are interoperable with Akamai's
cloud computing services easily accessible to Akamai customers. The
services are provided by Akamai technology partners that complete a
rigorous qualification process to ensure they are readily available
to deploy and scale across the globally distributed Akamai
Connected Cloud.
About Neural Magic
Neural Magic accelerates
AI for the enterprise and brings operational simplicity to GenAI
deployments. As a software-delivered solution, Neural Magic
optimizes open-source models, like large language models, to run
efficiently on commodity hardware. Organizations can spend less to
advance AI initiatives to production, without sacrificing
performance and accuracy with their models. Founded by a
MIT professor and an AI research
scientist, challenged by the constraints of existing hardware,
Neural Magic enables a future where developers and IT can tap
into the power of state-of-the-art, open-source AI with none of the
friction.
About Akamai
Akamai powers and protects life online.
Leading companies worldwide choose Akamai to build, deliver, and
secure their digital experiences — helping billions of people live,
work, and play every day. Akamai Connected Cloud, a massively
distributed edge and cloud platform, puts apps and experiences
closer to users and keeps threats farther away. Learn more about
Akamai's cloud computing, security, and content delivery solutions
at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai
Technologies on X, formerly known as Twitter, and
LinkedIn.
Contacts
Chris
Nicholson
Akamai Media Relations
+1.508.517.3703
cnichols@akamai.com
Tom Barth
Akamai Investor Relations
+1.617.274.7130
tbarth@akamai.com
Donna Loughlin Michaels
Neural Magic Media Relations
LMGPR
408.393.5575
donna@lmgpr.com
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SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.