Today, Cisco Systems announced the launch of a new chip and router designed to accelerate data transfer in massive data centers, aiming to compete with Broadcom and Nvidia in the booming AI infrastructure market.
Cisco expects the chip to help some AI computing jobs run 28% faster, in part by automatically rerouting data around any problems in the network within microseconds.
According to Cisco, the Silicon One G300 will “power new Cisco N9000 and Cisco 8000 systems that push the frontier of AI networking in the data center”.
“The systems feature innovative liquid cooling and support high-density optics to achieve new efficiency benchmarks and ensure customers get the most out of their GPU investments. In addition, the company enhanced Nexus One to make it easier for enterprises to operate their AI networks — on-premises or in the cloud — removing the complexity that can hold organizations back from scaling AI data centers.”
The chip will be made using Taiwan’s TSM’s 3-nanometer chipmaking technology and will include several new “shock absorber” features designed to help AI chip networks avoid bogging down when hit with large spikes of data traffic.
Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer, Cisco, announced: “We are spearheading performance, manageability, and security in AI networking by innovating across the full stack – from silicon to systems and software. We’re building the foundation for the future of infrastructure, supporting every type of customer—from hyperscalers to enterprises—as they shift to AI-powered workloads.”
Martin Lund, Executive Vice President of Cisco’s Common Hardware Group, said, “As AI training and inference continues to scale, data movement is the key to efficient AI compute; the network becomes part of the compute itself. It’s not just about faster GPUs – the network must deliver scalable bandwidth and reliable, congestion-free data movement. Cisco Silicon One G300, powering our new Cisco N9000 and Cisco 8000 systems, delivers high-performance, programmable, and deterministic networking – enabling every customer to fully utilize their compute and scale AI securely and reliably in production.”
Cisco shares rose 2% following the announcement.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
