Intel quietly kills controversial 'pay as you go' chip licensing initiative — Software Defined Silicon GitHub repository was archived in November 2025, allegedly signaling the end of active development

Source: Tom’s Hardware

Image credit: Intel

Background

Intel began work on its Software Defined Silicon initiative (SDSi) four years ago, targeting the 4th‑generation Xeon processors. The goal was to sell processors at a base price and then charge a premium for activating specific accelerators on demand. The program later received the official name “Intel On Demand.”

Program Details

Intel positioned Intel On Demand as a flexible model that let customers enable a range of accelerator features without buying higher‑tier CPUs upfront. Supported accelerators included:

• Software Guard Extensions (SGX)
• Dynamic Load Balancer (DLB)
• Intel Data Streaming Accelerator (DSA)
• Intel In‑Memory Analytics Accelerator (IAA)
• Intel QuickAssist Technology (QAT)

The licensing model offered two options:

1. Permanent enablement – a one‑time payment to unlock the feature permanently.
2. Usage‑based licensing – customers paid only when they actually used the accelerator.

Criticism

The initiative drew significant criticism from the server community. The main concern was that the accelerator IP blocks were physically present in the silicon but remained disabled unless customers paid to activate them, effectively requiring payment for features that were already part of the chip. This raised questions about the value proposition and whether the model would gain traction.

Current Status

Recent activity suggests Intel has quietly discontinued the program:

• The Intel SDSi GitHub repository—which contained the software components needed for Intel On Demand—was archived in November 2025, indicating the end of active development.
• Intel has removed most On Demand documentation from its website; only legacy PDF files remain accessible.

These developments were reported by Phoronix and imply that Intel no longer considers Intel On Demand a priority.

Image credit: Intel