IBM is unveiling the latest version of its mainframe hardware, designed to accelerate AI adoption. The company introduced the IBM z17 on Monday, a fully encrypted mainframe powered by the IBM Telum II processor, optimized for over 250 AI use cases, including AI agents and generative AI.
While mainframes may seem outdated, they are still crucial to modern businesses, with 71% of Fortune 500 companies using them, according to one source. In 2024, the mainframe market was valued at approximately $5.3 billion, according to consulting firm Market Research Future.
The z17 is capable of processing 450 billion inference operations per day, marking a 50% increase over its predecessor, the IBM z16, which launched in 2022 and featured the original Tellum processor. The z17 is designed to integrate seamlessly with other hardware, software, and open-source tools.
Tina Tarquinio, VP of product management and design for IBM Z, explained to TechCrunch that the development of this mainframe has been in progress for five years, long before the AI boom sparked by OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022.
IBM dedicated over 2,000 research hours, gathering feedback from more than 100 customers during the z17’s development. Tarquinio shared that it was fascinating to see that the feedback they received aligns with where the AI market has evolved. “It’s been wild knowing that we’re introducing an AI accelerator and then seeing, especially in the latter half of 2022, all of the changes in the industry regarding AI,” she said. “The possibilities are really unlimited in terms of what AI can help us do.”
The z17 is built with flexibility to accommodate the future of AI. Upon release, the mainframe will support 48 IBM Spyre AI accelerator chips, with plans to increase that number to 96 within a year.
“We are purposely building in headroom,” Tarquinio emphasized. “We’re purposely building in AI agility. As new models are introduced, we’re ensuring we’ve built in the capacity for larger models that may need more local memory to interact with one another.”
One of the standout features of the z17 is its energy efficiency. Tarquinio highlighted that while the z17’s AI acceleration is seven and a half times faster than previous models, it consumes five and a half times less energy than competing platforms.
The z17 mainframes will be generally available starting June 8.
