Intel and AMD Team Up to Defend x86 Against Arm's Rise

In a move to protect their market share from the growing influence of Arm Holdings, Intel and AMD have joined forces. Arm's chip architecture, a competitor to the x86 architecture used by Intel and AMD, has gained significant traction, particularly in the mobile and data center markets.

The Rise of Arm and the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group

To counter this, Intel and AMD have established the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group. This group aims to ensure developers continue to support the x86 architecture by addressing compatibility issues and promoting its advantages. This collaboration aims to ensure that future chips are consistent, compatible, and optimized for various applications.

The x86 architecture, originally developed by Intel over 40 years ago, powers a wide range of devices, including laptops, desktop PCs, and data center servers. AMD licenses the architecture from Intel for its processors. However, Arm's architecture has gained popularity, being used by companies like Apple, Qualcomm, Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft to power mobile and data center chips.

Arm's success stems from a key advantage: all chips based on its architecture can run the same software, regardless of the chip manufacturer. This isn't always the case with x86, where software compatibility can sometimes be a challenge.

The new advisory group aims to tackle this issue by bringing together hardware and software companies, including Broadcom, Dell, Lenovo, and Oracle. They will collaborate to provide technical input on key features and functionality of Intel and AMD chips.

Despite being competitors, Intel and AMD have a history of industry collaboration, focusing on platform advancements, standardization efforts, and security vulnerabilities within the x86 ecosystem. Their joint efforts have yielded crucial technologies like PCI, PCIe, ACPI, and USB, the ubiquitous connectivity standard used by all computers.

A United Front for the Future of Computing

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger highlighted the x86 architecture's readiness for AI-powered laptops during a Lenovo developer event in Seattle. "We're proud to stand alongside AMD and the founders of this advisory group as we chart the future of computing," said Gelsinger. "We appreciate the support of so many industry leaders."