Nvidia partners with Intel to develop AI and consumer chips

Intel and Nvidia have signed a multi-year agreement that encompasses both data centre and consumer products. The former will involve Intel CPUs working in tandem with Nvidia's AI accelerators. Essentially, it will help Nvidia offer both X86-based solutions for its customers on top of its existing Arm-based offerings. The announcement comes shortly after Nvidia was considering Intel's 14A node for some of its future offerings. 

On the consumer side, future Intel chips will integrate Nvidia GPUs. This raises questions for the future of Arc graphics. While discrete solutions might still be around, Arc-branded iGPUs will very likely get the axe. But they should be around for a generation or two because Panther Lake and Nova Lake are tipped to arrive with Celestial and Druid-based graphics solutions.

Intel and Nvidia's new collaboration also raises questions for the latter's foray into the Windows-on-Arm market. The Nvidia N1X was initially slated to launch this year, but it got pushed back to 2026. Now, it might never see the light of day because Nvidia has established Intel x86 chips as a base for its laptop chips, eliminating the need to develop an Arm chip from scratch.

While the implied demise of Arc Mobile is disappointing, Nvidia's existing IP will give Intel a much-needed competitive edge against AMD in the handheld segment. Low-power solutions such as Lunar Lake and Panther Lake, when combined with a similarly-specced Nvidia part, can result in some great chips for portable consoles.