Intel will release a CPU featuring AMD Radeon graphics: Bennett

In December last year, we reported on the possibility of a licensing deal between AMD and Intel. The information came from Hard OCP editor and industry insider Kyle Bennett, who has a solid track record for these types of leaks. Now, Bennett is claiming that Intel will release a Kaby Lake CPU with an AMD Radeon GPU attached. 

There were two possibilities discussed on the news of the deal: First, Intel could just sign the licensing agreement with AMD simply because their original agreement was about to expire—but not change anything in their chips. The second option was the seemingly ridiculous: Intel chips using AMD graphics. Bennett says the first Intel/AMD collaboration will be a Kaby Lake CPU with AMD GPU targeting entry-level or mid-range computers. The GPU will not be on-die as the current HD and Iris graphics by Intel are. Instead, they will be on a modular chip. The reasoning for this is likely so the boards can be manufactured by the competitors in stages (Intel will send the CPU dies to AMD, which will possibly attach their GPU module). Such a method allows Intel and AMD to keep their trade secrets safe from each other.

Intel previously inked a licensing deal with Nvidia in 2011 as part of a US$1.5 billion settlement with the Taiwanese company over GPU patents. Intel needs to have a deal with either AMD or Nvidia for GPU technology licenses in order to avoid being sued for patent infringement. By signing a deal with either company, Intel would be safe from legal action from the other—AMD and Nvidia already share so much of the same technology between their GPUs that a legal battle between them would be completely self-destructive.