IBM has unveiled new Power11 data center chips and servers, marking the first major update to its “Power” chip line since 2020, according to Bloomberg. Available July 25, these systems aim to simplify AI deployment in business operations and offer enhanced power efficiency compared to rivals like Intel and AMD.
According to Tom McPherson, General Manager of Power systems at IBM, the integrated chip and software package prioritizes reliability and security. The Power11 systems boast no planned downtime for software updates and average just over 30 seconds of unplanned downtime annually. They are also designed to detect and respond to ransomware attacks within a minute.
In Q4 2025, IBM plans to integrate Power11 with Spyre, its AI chip introduced last year. McPherson clarified that IBM isn’t competing with Nvidia in AI system training but focuses on simplifying AI deployment for inference—the process of applying AI to business tasks. “We can integrate AI capabilities seamlessly into this for inference acceleration and help their business process improvements,” McPherson stated, emphasizing the systems’ “really good inferencing capabilities that are simple to integrate.”
