NVIDIA and Intel Partner in $5B Deal to Develop AI Infrastructure and PC Chips
Santa Clara, Sept. 18, 2025 — NVIDIA and Intel announced a wide-ranging partnership on Thursday that includes a $5 billion NVIDIA investment in Intel stock and joint development of new chips for both data centers and personal computers. The collaboration is aimed at accelerating AI adoption across enterprise and consumer markets.
Under the agreement, Intel will design and manufacture multiple generations of custom x86 CPUs for NVIDIA, while also building new PC system-on-chips (SoCs) that integrate NVIDIA RTX GPU chiplets. The products will rely on NVIDIA’s NVLink interconnect technology to link CPUs and GPUs more tightly than current standards. NVIDIA said this approach will reduce latency, improve bandwidth, and unlock higher performance for AI workloads.
Details of the Agreement
NVIDIA will purchase Intel common stock at $23.28 per share, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Intel will begin production of the new CPUs and SoCs in upcoming product cycles, though neither company provided a release timeline.
For data centers, Intel will build NVIDIA-customized x86 CPUs that will be integrated into NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure platforms and offered to customers worldwide.
For personal computing, Intel will develop SoCs combining its CPU cores with NVIDIA RTX GPU chiplets, aimed at powering a new class of PCs optimized for AI, gaming, and creative workloads (NVIDIA Newsroom).
Leadership Comments
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang called the agreement “a fusion of two world-class platforms,” describing AI as the driving force of a new industrial revolution. “Together, we will expand our ecosystems and lay the foundation for the next era of computing,” he said in a statement.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan emphasized that Intel’s x86 architecture has underpinned modern computing for decades and said the company’s process technology and packaging capabilities will complement NVIDIA’s leadership in accelerated computing. “We appreciate the confidence Jensen and the NVIDIA team have placed in us with their investment,” Tan added.
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Market Reaction
Intel’s stock jumped close to 30% in pre-market trading after the news, reflecting investor confidence that the partnership could boost the company’s standing in AI and semiconductor development.
NVIDIA stock also recorded modest gains. Analysts said the investment marked a rare show of confidence between two long-time rivals and could reshape competitive dynamics in semiconductors.
The $5 billion stake represents one of the largest cross-company investments in the sector in recent years. Market watchers noted it comes at a time when both companies are seeking to expand their roles in powering AI systems across industries.
Competitive Implications
The move positions NVIDIA and Intel to better compete with AMD, which has gained ground in both CPUs and GPUs, and Apple, whose custom silicon has redefined performance in consumer devices. By aligning their architectures, NVIDIA and Intel aim to challenge these rivals with integrated platforms that combine high-performance CPUs and GPUs at scale.
Analysts told Reuters that the deal also underscores how AI is reshaping alliances in the semiconductor industry. Long-standing competitors are now collaborating to keep pace with rising demand for generative AI, large-language models, and accelerated computing.
What It Means for Customers
For enterprise and hyperscale customers, the collaboration could yield servers equipped with CPUs tailored for NVIDIA’s AI software stack, delivering improved efficiency for model training and inference.
For consumers, PCs powered by Intel CPUs with NVIDIA RTX GPU chiplets could bring new capabilities in gaming, content creation, and AI-driven productivity. By using NVLink, the chips are expected to provide smoother performance in tasks that require intensive data sharing between CPU and GPU, such as real-time rendering and generative AI applications.
Developers may also benefit from deeper integration between NVIDIA’s CUDA software ecosystem and Intel’s x86 platform, potentially reducing friction when building AI-driven applications.
Risks and Challenges
Despite the enthusiasm, industry experts caution that the deal carries risks. Integrating custom CPU and GPU architectures at scale will require overcoming manufacturing challenges, driver and firmware compatibility, and potential thermal and power constraints.
Regulatory approval is another hurdle, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, where antitrust concerns are likely to be examined closely. Any delays in approval could affect the timeline of NVIDIA’s planned $5 billion stock purchase.
Cost is also a factor. Producing chiplets and tightly coupling them with CPUs via NVLink is complex, and yields may affect margins. With AMD and ARM-based chipmakers accelerating their own roadmaps, NVIDIA and Intel will need to demonstrate clear performance advantages to win customers.
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Industry Impact
The partnership highlights a shift in the semiconductor industry toward CPU-GPU convergence. Rather than treating CPUs and GPUs as separate components, companies are moving to design systems where they function as unified engines.
For Intel, the deal represents an opportunity to reassert itself in cutting-edge markets after years of manufacturing delays and competitive pressure. For NVIDIA, it ensures deeper access to the x86 ecosystem, which remains dominant in enterprise computing.
If the collaboration delivers on its promises, analysts say it could redefine standards for both data centers and personal computers, ushering in a new wave of AI-optimized hardware.
