Akamai launches new category of cloud-based compute powered
by NETINT video processing units
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 27,
2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM), the
cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects
business online, today launched Akamai Cloud Accelerated Compute
Instances, a new compute category built on specialized computer
chips designed to perform specific tasks more efficiently than
general-purpose processors. The new instances are powered by NETINT
video processing units (VPUs), NETINT's proprietary hardware for
media transcoding. Akamai is the first and only cloud provider to
offer VPUs in the cloud.
NETINT VPUs are designed for workloads where minimizing the cost
of delivering high-quality video streams is essential or where
reducing energy consumption is a priority. Akamai's accelerated
instances are powered by Quadra T1U VPUs, a single-chip solution
that supports encoding resolutions up to 8Kp60 in industry-standard
formats including AV1, HEVC, and H.264 with 8/10 bit support,
including HDR. As the highest-density hardware encoder available,
the Quadra T1U can encode 32 live streams at 1080p30 broadcast
quality, with the capacity scaling linearly for resolutions above
or below HD.
The rise in live and on-demand video streaming, user-generated
content, and video-driven social media has driven companies to look
for optimized hardware and cloud solutions to improve application
performance. However, transcoding-optimized cloud computing
resources are rare. Previously, the only way to deploy NETINT's VPU
hardware has been to purchase it outright and run it on-premises or
in a colocation facility. Akamai Accelerated Compute Instances are
designed for media companies that are delivering video on demand
and live streaming services, providing the scalability needed
without inflating IT budgets.
"By bringing traditionally hardware-confined power to the cloud,
we're removing barriers that have held businesses back. Companies
can now cut costs, scale seamlessly, and deliver better streaming
experiences — solving a major industry challenge that's been
overlooked for too long," said Jon
Alexander, Vice President of Product Management at Akamai.
"Being the first cloud provider to offer VPUs gives Akamai a new
competitive edge to expand our long-existing relationships with our
media partners."
NETINT VPUs allow companies to reallocate their application's
CPUs by offloading compute-intensive video processing tasks to the
VPU. A VPU architecture offers up to 20 times
greater throughput than CPU-only solutions. This frees the CPU
to do other things like dynamic packaging, de-interlacing,
real-time speech-to-text captioning, software decoding for
standards not supported in the VPU, and run popular applications
like FFmpeg and GStreamer.
"VPUs are the ultimate cheat code for video streaming
profitability," said Randal Horne,
Chief Revenue Officer, NETINT. "The expenses to deliver massive
volumes of video content using traditional software encoders are
crippling. NETINT is proud to be the VPU engine inside Akamai
Accelerated Compute Instances, bringing up to 20 times the
throughput at a tenth of the cost compared with traditional
industry platforms. With Akamai Cloud, NETINT helps media companies
reduce equipment investment and cut OPEX to meet their growth and
profitability targets."
Akamai is making a play to be the cloud for media and to capture
areas of the market overlooked by hyperscalers. Akamai media
services, trusted by all top 10 video streaming services, include
solutions for contribution, transport, transcoding, packaging,
digital rights management, ad insertion, and content security. With
the first-time cloud availability of VPUs, transcoding-optimized
NVIDIA GPUs, and industry-low egress costs, Akamai enables seamless
performance at scale. Its cloud platform is open by design, giving
customers control over every aspect of their workflow and access to
a vibrant and growing third-party partner network. Media companies
can choose from multiple software and partner options across each
workflow step to transport, prepare, process, deliver, secure, and
monetize digital content. The scale of Akamai's massively
distributed cloud gives it the unique ability to minimize egress
fees and offer generous allowances, providing unmatched
price-performance.
Akamai will show its range of cloud-based media delivery,
computing, and security capabilities at the 2025 NAB Show in
Las Vegas, April 6–9. Akamai will
host visitors at the Akamai Lounge, located in the Las Vegas Convention Center on the second
level of the West Hall, room W234LMR.
About Akamai
Akamai is the cybersecurity and cloud
computing company that powers and protects business online. Our
market-leading security solutions, superior threat intelligence,
and global operations team provide defense in depth to safeguard
enterprise data and applications everywhere. Akamai's full-stack
cloud computing solutions deliver performance and affordability on
the world's most distributed platform. Global enterprises trust
Akamai to provide the industry-leading reliability, scale, and
expertise they need to grow their business with confidence. Learn
more at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai
Technologies on X and LinkedIn.
About NETINT
NETINT is the creator of a new video processing solution called
video processing unit, VPU, which is built on the company's
Codensity ASIC custom silicon. Designed to meet the
needs of the most demanding video encoding workflows, the
second-generation NETINT VPU, Quadra, received a Technical Emmy
Award alongside Meta and Google in 2024 for its contribution to
cloud video acceleration. Video engineers wanting to learn how VPUs
can improve their platform, service efficiency, and cost are
encouraged to visit netint.com.
Contacts
Akamai Media Relations
akamaipr@akamai.com
Akamai Investor Relations
invrel@akamai.com
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SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.
