Intel and Alibaba Launch Edge, Hybrid Cloud Partnerships

Intel and Alibaba launched an edge computing platform and a hybrid cloud partnership — along with a slew of other announcements — at the Alibaba Yunqi Conference in Hangzhou, China. The edge platform is an open architecture for IoT applications that integrates artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technologies for edge computing. It combines Intel’s processors, silicon acceleration technologies, and software with Alibaba Cloud IoT products such as its operating system for IoT applications. The companies say it allows enterprises to develop customizable device-to-cloud IoT solutions for different edge computing scenarios such as industrial manufacturing and smart building. An aluminum alloy die-casting company, Chongqing Refine-Yumei Die Casting Co. (YuMei), is the first enterprise to deploy the platform in its factories. YuMei says the product’s automatic detection capabilities, which integrate defect detection within the machine, allow it to identify defects five times faster compared to manual detection.