Following the initial discontinuation of its open-source Gaudi user-space code, Intel has archived the SynapseAI Core repository, halting all maintenance. This comes amid delays in Gaudi 3 kernel driver upstreaming, raising doubts over Intel's AI open-source commitments.
Intel has formally archived its SynapseAI Core GitHub repository, issuing a stark notice: "PROJECT NOT UNDER ACTIVE MANAGEMENT. Intel will no longer maintain this project. Intel has ceased development and contributions, including, but not limited to, maintenance, bug fixes, new releases, or updates, to this project. Intel no longer accepts patches to this project." Users are now urged to fork it for independent use.
As the user-space component—providing APIs, Synapse backend, thunk libraries, and interfaces alongside the kernel driver—this abandonment undermines the open-source ecosystem for Habana Gaudi AI accelerators. It follows the late November release of the Gaudi 3 kernel driver code, which missed the Linux 6.19 merge window due to delays, layoffs, and maintainer changes, now eyeing Linux 6.20 or 7.0.
Discussions on the Linux Kernel Mailing List highlight that Gaudi 3 support was never upstreamed prior to the archival, potentially blocking future inclusion despite Intel's assurances of commitment to upstreaming. Amid cost-cutting and engineering layoffs, Intel prioritizes its closed-source Gaudi software stack over open-source efforts.
