in search of alternative AI software ecosystems
Qualcomm’s Modular acquisition aligns Tenstorrent’s investment in its open-source TT-x software stack. Both reflect an understanding that processors—regardless of type—need a software ecosystem to survive, much less thrive. Both reflect an understanding that as challengers they must be open. Modular is open in that it supports various underlying hardware but isn’t 100% open source. TT-x, by contrast, is strictly open source but for now focuses on Tenstorrent’s hardware.
The imperative for companies developing their own XPUs to have strong enablement is, of course, more than to bond customers to their hardware products; it’s also to loosen their bonds to the Nvidia ecosystem. It’s a dangerous game. Once freed from Nvidia, there’s no guarantee they’ll adopt a specific alternative hardware platform. But, as challengers, Qualcomm and Tenstorrent are taking a necessary step.
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