Sony's beefed-up PlayStation 5 Pro rumor: no AI-ready NPU, that'll be inside PlayStation 6

Sony's refreshed PlayStation 5 Pro console will launch later this year, with rumors that it will feature AI-powered upscaling technology that was dubbed an "NVIDIA DLSS competitor" that saw some tweets flying on X.

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Leaker "Kepler" posted on X saying, "Why on earth are people thinking the PS5 Pro will support DLSS?" after headlines that Sony was working on a "DLSS competitor" for its upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro console. AMD makes the semi-custom SoC inside the PS5, PS5 Pro, and upcoming PS6, so any AI upscaling would be done through AMD technology like FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) and NOT something from their GPU competitor.

Tylor Sweeney replied to Kepler, saying: "I could see them having AMD build a custom NPU-like chip using RDNA GPU cores (kinda like the sound chip in PS5) for AI/neural processing and then custom build an AI-enhanced FSR alternative, a la DLSS".

Kepler replied: "There is no NPU. If Viola supports gfx11/12 WMMA intrinsics (which it should) then it could easily support AI-enhanced upscaling, but I still don't see the point of Sony building this by themselves instead of sharing R&D efforts with AMD".

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Kepler ponders that if Viola supports gfx11/12 WMMA intrinsic (which it should) then it "could easily" support AI-enhanced upscaling, adding that "I still don't see the point of Sony building this by themselves instead of sharing R&D efforts with AMD".

I'm expecting to see whatever AI upscaling is inside of Sony's beefed-up PlayStation 5 Pro console, to be capable of running Rockstar's upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 at 4K 60FPS. It would be a pure system seller at that point, running the biggest game of all time on the fastest console of all time at 4K 60FPS using AI upscaling. It is a marketing win for PS5 Pro and a great test of the AI upscaling waters for the next-gen PlayStation 6 console in the future.