photo by ChatGPT
In recent years, the rise of AI has been accompanied by the “decline” of CPUs. The once-dominant industry leader Intel has faced significant challenges, not only struggling with innovation but also revealing manufacturing defects in its core CPU consumer production line. Many believed it would never recover, with multiple rumors of bankruptcy and sale circulating. When Nvidia, once looked down upon by Intel, announced a $5 billion investment in Intel and a partnership to develop x86 chips, the entire semiconductor industry was taken aback. The sudden transformation of long-time competitors into “allies” undoubtedly signifies a new round of reshuffling in the chip landscape. (For a detailed account of the 30-year rivalry between Intel and Nvidia, refer to Jensen Huang’s biography “The Chip of Nvidia”)
Upon the announcement, the stock market reacted vigorously, with Intel’s stock price surging over 30%, rising from a previous close of 24.9 to a peak of 32.377, while Nvidia’s stock also increased by over 3%. In contrast, competitor AMD saw a decline of over 5 percentage points, and TSMC dropped nearly 2%.
This investment is not only a financial lifeline but also a strategic deep binding. For Nvidia, it needs to leverage Intel’s vast x86 ecosystem to deeply integrate its GPUs with Intel CPUs via NVLink, directly targeting AMD’s traditional stronghold; for cash-strapped Intel, bringing in an AI giant as a shareholder not only stabilizes market confidence but also provides an opportunity to return to the center stage. However, it is important to note that this collaboration does not involve Intel’s existing foundry business.
From a technical perspective, this collaboration could give rise to a new form of SoC: integrating RTX GPUs with x86 CPUs within the same package, which could drive AI supercomputers into data centers and provide “unprecedented” performance experiences for thin and light laptops. This poses a direct challenge to AMD’s APUs and serves as a strategic defense against the ARM camp.
However, the risks are also significant: will Nvidia weaken its ARM strategy as a result? Can Intel fulfill its capacity and process commitments? If this gamble falters, it could lead to a “lose-lose” situation. Nevertheless, it is certain that competition in the chip industry has shifted from a focus on single-point performance to a more complex landscape of cross-architecture and cross-ecosystem alliances.
In the coming years, the AI computing and PC markets may witness a true “transfer of power,” and the alliance between Nvidia and Intel may just be the beginning.
photo by ChatGPT
This article was written on September 19, 2025
This is the 535th consecutive daily update, and the 562nd article.
⬆️Follow me as we explore theAI frontier together⬆️