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Hardware competitors Nvidia and Intel have announced a new and major partnership, with the two companies collaborating on "multiple generations" of hardware that will include consumer products as well as technology for data centers.
In a press release, Nvidia revealed plans to purchase $5 billion worth of Intel's common stock, "subject to customary closing conditions, including required regulatory approvals." This isn't a buyout or takeover, but it is a substantial investment.
Nvidia says its partnership with Intel will see a focus on "seamlessly connecting NVIDIA and Intel architectures using NVIDIA NVLink — integrating the strengths of NVIDIA’s AI and accelerated computing with Intel’s leading CPU technologies and x86 ecosystem to deliver cutting-edge solutions for customers."
For personal computing, the realm of us PC gaming mortals, Intel will "build and offer to the market" x86 SOCs (system-on-chips) that integrate Nvidia GPU chiplets.
"These new x86 RTX SOCs will power a wide range of PCs that demand integration of world-class CPUs and GPUs," Nvidia says. The pitch is about what you'd expect: "Fusing the world's best CPU and GPU to redefine the PC experience," per Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's comments at a press conference.
The folks constructing data centers, meanwhile, can expect Intel to build "NVIDIA-custom x86 CPUs that NVIDIA will integrate into its AI infrastructure platforms."
AI is, unsurprisingly, a recurring theme of the announcement. Huang argues "AI is powering a new industrial revolution and reinventing every layer of the computing stack." He calls this partnership "historic" and stresses it combines Nvidia's AI and "accelerated computing stack" with Intel's CPUs and "the vast x86 ecosystem," almost like peanut butter and jelly with a few slices of banana.
"We're going to become a very large customer of Intel CPUs," Huang said at a press conference today.
Similarly, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan writes: "Intel’s leading data center and client computing platforms, combined with our process technology, manufacturing and advanced packaging capabilities, will complement NVIDIA’s AI and accelerated computing leadership to enable new breakthroughs for the industry."
Intel has been falling behind in several processor markets for years, and Nvidia has been banging the AI drum with both hands for some time as well, so in some ways this collaboration comes as no surprise. Just today, Huang argued "general purpose computing has reached its limits," again championing the benefits of accelerated hardware which he reckons "sparked the big bang of artificial intelligence."
This deal will give Intel a shot of investment and, seemingly, a seat on the train that Nvidia has ridden to reach millions of customers. Even so, the processor companies joining hands like this, on a Thursday afternoon, comes as a bit of a shock.
Asked about the $5 billion investment accompanying the partnership, Huang said it is an "incredible investment" and Nvidia is "delighted to be a shareholder," and said "the return on that investment is going to be fantastic."
"It just reflects how excited we are about this partnership," he said. I, too, have been known to drop $5 billion in my excitement.
