Intel launches Xeon 6+ processors and Ethernet E835 for agentic AI workloads

Intel announced a new family of data‑center CPUs called Xeon 6+, built on the company’s 18A process. The top model, the Xeon 6990E+, offers up to 288 efficient cores, up to 2.5 times the performance of the previous generation and around 45 percent higher performance‑per‑watt. The chips feature 12‑channel DDR5 memory, 96 PCIe Gen 5 lanes, CXL support, and integrated security technologies such as SGX and TDX. Alongside the processors, Intel introduced the Ethernet E835 controller series to provide high‑efficiency networking for AI workloads. The company also previewed its next‑generation data‑center GPU line, codenamed Crescent Island, and a new software tool, Application Energy Telemetry, for monitoring workload power use. Executives emphasized that the CPU will remain the control plane for increasingly “agentic” AI systems, handling orchestration, concurrency and data movement across compute and network resources.