While Intel moves to cut jobs and reduce spending by over $10 billion, the chipmaker unveils expanded AI PC partner benefits alongside a new AI PC contest that will award thousands of dollars in market development funds and other incentives to partners.

Intel plans to give thousands of dollars in market development funds and other incentives to partners who develop compelling proofs of concept for AI PCs in a new contest.

The semiconductor giant unveiled the AI PC Innovation Challenge alongside a slew of expanded benefits meant to encourage members of the Intel Partner Alliance (IPA) program to sell and drive interest in AI-enabled PCs powered by its Core Ultra processors.

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The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker unveiled the expanded AI PC partner benefits as it moves to cut 15,000 jobs and more than $10 billion in costs by the end of the year in response to what CEO Pat Gelsinger has described as worsening financial conditions.

One way Intel plans to achieve these cuts is by slashing spending within its partner-centric Sales and Marketing Group by more than 35 percent, CRN reported exclusively last week.

In an interview with CRN last Thursday, Yasser Rasheed, Intel’s global director of client channel strategy and partner programs, said the expanded partner benefits are part of the chipmaker’s broader strategy to establish the AI PC category and enable the industry “to leverage and grow with it.”

“We’re kicking off the innovation, but we invite, of course, our partners to innovate with us and grow the market,” he said.

AI PC Innovation Challenge

While Intel has already been working with more than 100 ISVs to enable over 300 AI-accelerated PC features in addition to optimizing 500-plus AI models on its Core Ultra processors, the company is kicking off the AI PC Innovation Challenge as another way to incentivize partners to develop AI PC applications.

“We know that realizing those use cases and the best experience takes a village, and we offer the platform. We offer the tools. We want to incentivize our partners to come and join us and innovate,” said Rasheed.

Open to IPA members, the contest will come with three tiers of prizes, according to the channel executive. In the first tier, any partner who submits a qualified submission before the contest’s Oct. 15 deadline will receive 500 IPA points and entry into Intel’s AI PC Activation Zone.

In the contest’s second tier, 24 winners across four geographies, including the Americas, will each receive 1,000 IPA points, special invites to regional events, promotion on Intel’s social media channels and matchmaking opportunities. The other regions include Europe, the Middle East and Africa; Asia-Pacific Japan; and China.

In the third tier, three top partners in each region will receive thousands of U.S. dollars in market development funds (MDF) for AI PC activities. Intel will give $10,000 to the first-place winner, $5,000 to second place and $3,000 to third place.

“These are compelling prizes, and yes, I expect a lot of good submissions,” Rasheed said.

Expanded AI PC Partner Benefits

In addition to the contest, Intel said Monday that it is expanding a variety of IPA benefits for partners around AI PCs.

These expanded benefits include special redemptions for IPA points and new points offerings, the latter of which will allow partners to earn double the points value for selling qualified systems with Core Ultra processors.

Partners can use points to redeem a variety of things, including vouchers with authorized Intel distributors, Intel products, training, certification and customer support, he said.

“The feedback we get is they are very good in the industry overall, but we continue to refine those every year, and frankly, even on a quarterly basis,” said Rasheed.

Intel is also introducing new and updated training courses for building and selling AI PCs, including systems that will use the company’s next-generation Core Ultra processors, which carry the code name “Lunar Lake.”

In addition, the company is releasing what it’s calling an “AI PC Look Book,” which will showcase ISVs developing AI-enabled features for PCs, as well as the AI PC Activation Zone, which will act as a webpage that is dedicated to AI PC partner resources.

Intel is releasing refreshed sales enablement resources too, and those resources will include a new competitive response guide.

“We have other architectures in the market. We believe we’re the best here, and we want to help our partners see you the why behind it,” Rasheed said.

Intel Touts Unique Position In AI PC Market Amid Cuts

When CRN asked Rasheed if he could provide any further information on Intel’s channel and product priorities amid the company’s big spending cuts, the channel executive reiterated a statement Intel provided last week on its deep commitment to partners.

“They are an integral part of our future plans,” he said in part.

Rasheed said the AI PC market is a top priority for Intel and added that partners play an essential role in establishing and growing the product category.

“Intel is at the forefront, bringing in the best platform, hardware and software capabilities, tools, infrastructure, training, you name it. But we don’t stop there,” he said.

“We do the matchmaking. We bring our ISVs together. We bring our ecosystem partners, the [value-added resellers]. We want everyone to engage and take part of that innovation and transformation in the industry that is a top priority for us,” Rasheed added.

The news of Intel’s expanded AI PC partner benefits received a positive reception from Kent Tibbils, who, as vice president of marketing at Fremont, Calif.-based distributor ASI, has been waiting to see how the chipmaker’s spending cuts will impact the channel.

“It is pretty cool that they’re still continuing to invest here and trying to identify ways that they’re going to be able to move the whole channel forward with this,” he said.

Tibbils said enabling the broader partner ecosystem has been a traditional strength of Intel’s.

“They can put together this whole ecosystem and work with all of these partners, especially on the software side, and I think that’s really a huge value in the AI space,” he said.