AMD reportedly changes upcoming Ryzen CPU branding to one-up Intel — leak points to Ryzen AI 300 to leapfrog Intel's Core Ultra 200 series
Rumor has it that AMD wants to change its Ryzen nomenclature for its next-generation Zen 5 mobile processors, just like Intel did with its latest Core Ultra nomenclature. According to reputable leaker Golden Pig on the Bilibili forums, the CPU manufacturer is allegedly ditching its existing Ryzen nomenclature for one featuring the words "Ryzen AI" with a 300 numbering scheme after the name.
As Intel did with the Core Ultra Meteor Lake processors, AMD could be attempting to rebrand its mobile CPUs. It's possible that AMD might want to emphasize that its chips sport a neural processing unit, a crucial component in Microsoft's new Copilot+ AI PCs.
Despite Ryzen AI being an all-new nomenclature, a few weeks ago, an Asus leak pointed to the possibility that AMD would opt to go with the 100 numbering scheme for its first Ryzen AI processors. However, Golden Pig's report claims that AMD has decided to skip the 100 and 200 numbering schemes and jump straight to 300 instead. No doubt this could be AMD's attempt to jump over Intel's next-generation Lunar Lake/Arrow Lake nomenclature, which will reportedly take advantage of an "inferior" 200-numbering scheme (Core Ultra 200 series).
AMD's name change for its upcoming Ryzen processors shouldn't take anyone by surprise. The company has made it a habit of copying its competitor's model name nomenclature in one way or another. It is especially noticeable in the motherboard space, where many of AMD's chipset names take on the same nomenclature as Intel's counterparts. AMD even went so far as to "steal" the B650 chipset nomenclature, forcing Intel to call its competing chipset "B660" to prevent confusion.
Golden Pig's report says that Strix Point will be named Ryzen AI. However, we expect AMD will revamp its entire Ryzen mobile lineup to incorporate the new "Ryzen AI" nomenclature for chips that sport its XDNA NPU. It will include Strix Point, Strix Halo, and any other Ryzen architecture that comes with an NPU.
Strix Point is the codename for AMD's next-generation mainstream Ryzen mobile processors to succeed AMD's outgoing Ryzen 8040 series chips. The new CPU lineup is expected to debut with AMD's next-generation Zen 5 CPU architecture, RDNA 3.5 graphics, and an XDNA2 NPU with roughly 30 TOPS of performance. Strix Halo is the codename for AMD's high-performance mobile APU aimed at competing with the fastest SoC silicon on the market, such as Apple's M3/M4 processors.
