Every two to three years, IBM refreshes its mainframe lineup with a new model that brings improved performance and expanded capabilities. IBM works with its clients to push the mainframe in the right direction, and lately, that direction has been toward artificial intelligence (AI).

IBM has unveiled its latest generation of mainframe, the z17. Engineered specifically to support AI capabilities across hardware, software, and systems operations, the company said the z17 is the result of five years of design and development.

IBM today announced the IBM z17, the next generation of the company's iconic mainframe, fully engineered with AI capabilities across hardware, software, and systems operations.

The IBM z17 mainframe can process 450 billion AI inferences a day, a significant step up from what its predecessor could.

The new processor enables the system to perform more than 450 billion AI inferencing operations per day, achieving latency as low as one millisecond.

Outfitted with the Telum II processor and Spyre accelerator, the IBM z17 bolsters response times, throughput, observability, and security with AI workloads in mind.