[Mobile Games] Sony and AMD Developing AI Tech for Better Gaming Graphics, Ray Tracing

[My baby Sam]

The PS5 developer and US chip-maker are working on a new R&D project dubbed 'Amethyst.'
 

Kate Irwin
By Kate Irwin 
Dec 19, 2024

 

 

(Credit: Richard A. Brooks/AFP via Getty Images)
 

Sony is working with AMD to develop machine learning and AI tech for gaming and graphics, according to an announcement on Wednesday.

 

The PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro consoles already use AMD GPUs, and the newer Pro version has a bigger GPU, better memory, and uses AI to power upscaling. Now, Sony and AMD are working on AI tech development project dubbed "Amethyst," a reference to the purple color you get if you mixed AMD's red branding with PlayStation's blue, to take things a step further.

 

"We've started on another long journey, and are combining our expertise with two goals in mind," said Sony's Mark Cerny, who was the lead architect on the PS5 and PS5 Pro, in a video announcing the collaboration. "The first goal is a more ideal architecture for machine learning."

 

Machine learning, a subfield of AI, could help give a next-generation Sony console the dramatic graphics performance boost needed to justify a new generation like a PS6. "We're combining the lessons AMD has learned from its multigeneration RDNA roadmap and SIE [Sony Interactive Entertainment] has learned from the custom work in PS5 Pro. But ML use in games shouldn't and can't be restricted to graphics libraries," Cerny says.

 

The console architect suggests that Sony's work with AMD isn't to just develop tech that's patented or reserved for their companies alone. He wants to support others' work in the field as well, which may be on other devices besides PlayStation consoles.

 

Cerny also spoke in-depth about Convolutional Neural Networks, or CNNs, which are a type of AI tech that can be used in game hardware. He hopes that AMD and Sony can figure out how to make CNNs better so that they can improve graphics as well as make other game tech like ray tracing and path tracing more prevalent across games.

 

The research and development is expected to take multiple years, according to the executive, who reminded fans that developing a new console is typically a four-year journey for Sony. For him, games have to play "noticeably better" to justify a new piece of hardware.

 

Sony's plans come just a few weeks after its former chairman of PlayStation Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden, said in an interview that the gaming console industry was hitting a performance plateau. "You're not going to see another PS1 to PS2 jump in performance—we have sort of maxed out there," Layden predicted.

 

https://me.pcmag.com/en/ai/27583/sony-and-amd-developing-ai-tech-for-better-gaming-graphics-ray-tracing