Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT) is a discontinued high-speed, high-capacity magnetic-tape data storage format developed and controlled by Sony. It was introduced in 1996 to use Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) technology[clarification needed]. It competed mainly against the DLT, LTO, DAT/DDS, and VXA formats. AIT uses 8mm tape in a cassette similar to Video8. Super AIT (SAIT) is a higher-capacity variant using wider half-inch (1/2"; 12.7mm) tape in a larger, single-spool cartridge. Both AIT and SAIT use the helical scan method of reading and writing to the tape.
Form factors
AIT technology was available in two form factors:
AIT – 8mm, dual-reel cartridge, similar to Sony's 8mm videotape products and Exabyte's 8mm data tape products.
SAIT – 1/2" (12.7mm), single-reel cartridge, similar to DLT and LTO.
In March 2010, Sony announced the discontinuation of the AIT product line and renewed collaboration with Hewlett-Packard on further development of the DDS tape format,
Compatibility
One of the most compelling features of the AIT format is that many generations are both backwards and forwards compatible.[citation needed] This allows multiple generations of tape drives to both read and write to multiple generations of tape media.</ref>
Comparison of "supertape" capacities, including SAIT
Generation
SAIT-1
SAIT-2
SAIT-3
SAIT-4
Release date
2003
2006
cancelled
cancelled
Native capacity (GB)
500
800
2000
4000
Max speed (MB/s)
30
45
120
240
Tape length (m)
600
640
Tape thickness (μm)
8.6
SAIT-1
Highest-capacity tape cartridge from 2003 to 2006. Displaced by DLT-S4 (800GB).
The AIT format was developed and is controlled by Sony.</ref>
SAIT-2
Released in 2006 by Sony, available only in libraries, 800GB native and 45MB/s sustained transfer rate.
Notes
Data capacity and speed numbers above are for uncompressed data. Sony assumes a 2× or 2.6× compression factor in their marketing material.[citation needed]
According to Sony, "All future products are based on technology projections."[citation needed]
Advanced Metal Evaporated is a different formulation of tape media.
MIC
Memory-in-Cassette is a 16–64 KB memory chip in the cartridge that keeps relevant information about the data on the tape to allow quicker access. The drive did not have to read the whole tape until it came across the file required like a file index.
R-MIC
Remote-Memory in Cassette. Like MIC, except it does not require physical contact.
↑Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) is a magnetic tape technology that uses a thin vacuum-deposited metal film rather than the magnetic particles suspended in a binder used by conventional metal-particle tape media."Metal Evaporated Media". Handbook of Magnetic Materials. 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2026.
↑MIC (Memory-in-Cassette) is an integrated memory chip embedded in an AIT cartridge that stores metadata about the tape's contents. By maintaining information such as file locations and usage data, MIC enables faster access to stored data because the tape drive does not need to sequentially scan the entire tape to locate a file."History (1996): Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT)". StorageNewsletter. Retrieved June 24, 2026.
↑WORM (Write Once, Read Many) is a data storage feature that allows information to be written to a tape cartridge only once, preventing subsequent modification or deletion. This capability is commonly used for long-term archival storage and regulatory compliance."Write Once Read Many (WORM) media". IBM Documentation. Retrieved June 24, 2026.
