Shares in Intelligent Business Machines (IBM) rose today as the tech giant said it is ready to accelerate the adoption of AI.
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Operational Surge
IBM has launched the latest version of its mainframe hardware, called IBM z17, which the company said is powered by a Telum II processor and is designed for more than 250 AI use cases. This includes AI agents and generative AI. The system can fully integrate with other hardware, software and open-source tools.
The z17, IBM added, can process 450 billion inference operations a day which is essentially when a machine learning model draws conclusions from brand new data. This is a 50% increase on the IBM z16, which was released in 2022 and ran on the original Telum processor.
According to an interview on the TechCrunch website Tina Tarquinio, VP of product management and design for IBM Z, said that the mainframe upgrade had been in the planning for five years. That means it was being designed before the recent explosion in interest in and demand for AI.
Ready to Meet AI Evolution
“It has been wild knowing that we’re introducing an AI accelerator, and then seeing, especially in the later half of 2022, all of the changes in the industry regarding AI,” Tarquinio said.
The z17 is set up to adapt and accommodate where the AI market heads, Tarquinio told TechCrunch. The mainframe will support 48 IBM Spyre AI accelerator chips upon release, with the plan to bring that number up to 96 within 12 months.
“We’re purposely building in AI agility. So as new models are introduced, we’re making sure that we’ve built in the headroom for bigger, larger models,” she added.
The move intensifies IBM’s AI devlopment. It follows its announcement earlier this week that it has acquired Hakkoda Inc., a global data and AI consultancy.
Is IBM a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, IBM has a Moderate Buy consensus based on 8 Buy, 5 Hold and 1 Sell rating. Its highest price target is $320. Its consensus price target is $263.33 implying an 16.63% upside.
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