IBM Introduces New Mainframe for AI Use

It’s 2025 and IBM announces a new mainframe. The z17 should allow (large) companies to run their own AI models on-premises.

The z17 is fully encrypted and powered by an IBM Telum II processor. It’s designed with AI in mind and can run more than 250 use cases for the technology, including AI agents and generative AI.

The z17 can process 450 billion inference operations per day, up 50% from its 2022 predecessor. Its capabilities can be expanded with IBM Spyre AI accelerator chips; at launch, the device supports 48, but IBM plans to expand that to 96 within a year.

Mainframes have been around for a while, but they are still used by about 70% of the world’s largest companies. The z17 will be available on June 8th.