Mar 13, 2026
Heterogeneous NPU Data Movement Tax: Intel's Own Slides Tell the Story
At Quadric, we have long argued that heterogeneous NPU designs — those that stitch together multiple specialized fixed-function engines — carry an unavoidable hidden cost: data has to move. A lot. And data movement burns power, adds latency, and creates silicon-area overhead that scales with every new generation of AI models. Now, Intel has made that case for us.



