The open source openSUSE project has begun to distribute packaging of the Intel Neural Processing Unit (NPU) driver for small-scale AI development.

Phoronx reported Intel NPU driver support is now available via release packages such as openSUSE’s fully rolling-release Tumbleweed distribution. With the capability, Linux developers using the open source SUSE system can leverage Intel’s built-in CPU accelerator for AI workloads on laptop and PC devices, with NPUs bringing advantages over CPUs and GPUs, which often drain power and work more slowly on smaller hardware.

Developers will need OpenVINO user-space software ready to leverage the NPU. Developed by Intel, OpenVINO is purpose-built for optimizing applications using low power consumption, low latency, and deployment on existing hardware at the edge, enabling standard edge-based hardware to run AI applications without expensive and drastic overhauls.

The open-source kit was used to drive a new modular, edge-native software platform from Intel released last year, while the OpenVINO Model Server is designed for cloud and server deployments, compliant with hyperscaler cloud storage.

“With the arrival of NPU (Neural Processing Unit) devices, it has become possible to run LLMs and generative AI applications without relying on a dedicated GPU … As members of an open-source community, we have a responsibility to democratize emerging technologies and help reduce the digital divide, and this delivery is another important step in that direction,” said Alessandro de Oliveira Faria, an innovator at Intel.