The CPU is back: Rethinking the CPU-GPU split for LLM inference
Summary
Red Hat's blog argues that CPUs are re-emerging as critical for LLM inference due to agentic AI workloads and on-premises, edge, and latency-sensitive deployments. It outlines a shift from CPU-to-GPU dominance toward a more balanced CPU-GPU split, driven by orchestration, tool calls, and smaller localized models, with data from industry players like Intel, Arm, NVIDIA, and OpenAI/AWS. The piece also highlights practical deployment considerations, benchmarking frameworks, and production platforms like OpenShift AI and vLLM for CPU-based serving.