Intel & Nvidia Joining Forces on Custom AI Data Centre Chips

Intel and Nvidia have announced a partnership to jointly develop custom AI infrastructure and personal computing products. 

The collaboration will focus on integrating Nvidia’s GPU technologies with Intel’s x86 CPUs and manufacturing expertise, targeting hyperscale data centres, enterprise environments and consumer markets.

Joint innovation with NVLink

At the core of the agreement is Nvidia NVLink, a high-bandwidth interconnect that enables tight coupling between CPU and GPU architectures. Intel will design and manufacture custom x86 CPUs tailored for Nvidia’s AI infrastructure platforms, which Nvidia will then market to data centre customers.

In parallel, Intel will build x86 system-on-chips (SoCs) incorporating Nvidia RTX GPU chiplets, aimed at PCs that demand strong CPU and GPU integration.

Alongside the technical collaboration, Nvidia is investing US$5bn in Intel’s common stock at US$23.28 per share, subject to regulatory approval. The investment underscores the companies’ long-term commitment to joint innovation.

Accelerating AI computing

Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s Founder and CEO, highlights the scale of change underway in computing.

“AI is powering a new industrial revolution and reinventing every layer of the computing stack – from silicon to systems to software,” he says. “At the heart of this reinvention is Nvidia’s CUDA architecture.

“This historic collaboration tightly couples Nvidia’s AI and accelerated computing stack with Intel’s CPUs and the vast x86 ecosystem – a fusion of two world-class platforms.

“Together, we will expand our ecosystems and lay the foundation for the next era of computing.”

Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel, echoes this perspective, pointing to the strengths each company brings.

“Intel’s x86 architecture has been foundational to modern computing for decades – and we are innovating across our portfolio to enable the workloads of the future,” he says.

“Intel’s leading data centre 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.

“We appreciate the confidence Jensen and the Nvidia team have placed in us with their investment and look forward to the work ahead as we innovate for customers and grow our business.”

How will this impact data centres?

For data centres, the partnership is designed to deliver new levels of performance and efficiency. 

Intel’s customised CPUs, integrated with Nvidia’s AI stack, will allow hyperscale and enterprise operators to run increasingly complex workloads. The combination of CPUs optimised for AI infrastructure and GPUs connected through NVLink could accelerate adoption of AI-native services while helping providers scale capacity more effectively.

The joint roadmap also addresses data centre sustainability and efficiency. By tightly coupling CPU and GPU processing, operators can reduce latency, improve throughput and lower overall energy use per workload.

These improvements are expected to benefit both hyperscale operators and multi-tenant environments that require predictable, high-performance infrastructure.

Implications for personal computing

Although data centres are a key focus, the partnership also extends to personal computing. Intel’s SoCs integrating Nvidia RTX GPUs will support PCs designed for gaming, content creation and other performance-intensive applications. 

For enterprise users, this could mean more efficient local AI processing alongside data centre-driven workloads.

Strategic alignment for AI growth

The collaboration signals a new phase in the fusion of CPU and GPU capabilities. By aligning Intel’s scale in process technology and manufacturing with Nvidia’s dominance in AI and accelerated computing, the companies are positioning themselves to meet the rapidly growing demand for AI infrastructure.

As joint products are introduced in the coming years, they are expected to establish new benchmarks for performance, integration and scalability in both data centre and personal computing sectors.