NVIDIA throws Intel a $5 billion lifeline to build PC and data center CPUs

NVIDIA has today announced it will invest $5 billion in Intel as part of a new collaboration between the two companies. In a statement, NVIDIA said it would work with its ailing rival to “jointly develop multiple generations of custom data center and PC products.”

The partnership will focus on marrying NVIDIA’s class-leading GPU and AI chips with Intel’s ailing x86 CPUs. That includes Intel building “NVIDIA-custom x86 CPUs” for integration with the latter company’s AI products.

PC users, meanwhile, should expect to see Intel building and / or selling x86 chips that integrate NVIDIA’s RTX GPU chiplets. It’s not clear if this means the end of Intel’s in-house graphics silicon or if these products will focus on broadening access to NVIDIA’s high-end GPU technology.

The statement includes personal remarks from both NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, who says the deal “tightly couples” Intel’s x86 CPUs with NVIDIA’s AI technology. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, meanwhile, says the deal will combine its CPU know-how, its “process technology, manufacturing and advanced packaging capabilities” with NVIDIA’s.

The partnership is interesting for a wide variety of reasons, including the fact few companies have opted to go with Intel’s foundry business to actually build chips. And that the momentum in the chip space has been pointed away from Intel for several years after several high-profile stumbles.

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