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Intel, AMD Forge Unlikely Partnership to Advance x86 Architecture
Storied rivals Intel and AMD have formed an industry group dedicated to "[shaping] the future of the world's most widely used computing architecture."
The two companies announced the x86 advisory group on Tuesday, featuring a murderers' row of founding members: Microsoft, Google, Dell, Oracle, Red Hat, Broadcom, Meta, Lenovo, HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
Together, the companies will "focus on identifying new ways to expand the x86 ecosystem by enabling compatibility across platforms, simplifying software development, and providing developers with a platform to identify architectural needs and features to create innovative and scalable solutions for the future."
Intel pioneered the x86 architecture four decades ago and later licensed it to AMD, which has since become its biggest rival in the x86 processor market. x86 remains the most widely used architecture in desktop and server computing, though it faces growing pressure from Arm Holdings. Historically used primarily for mobile and edge devices, Arm's architecture is now being increasingly adopted in hyperscale cloud datacenters.
With current demand for AI pushing datacenter capacity to unprecedented limits, x86's two biggest champions may feel they are at a critical inflection point.
"We are on the cusp of one of the most significant shifts in the x86 architecture and ecosystem in decades," said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in a statement, "with new levels of customization, compatibility and scalability needed to meet current and future customer needs."
The x86 advisory group will work on improving interoperability and reducing complexity for developers and partners. A complaint frequently levied at x86 is that its instruction set architecture is more varied and complex than that of Arm, making it comparatively difficult to ensure that software runs properly.
To lower the barriers to entry for x86, the group will work toward three goals, per the announcement:
- Enhancing customer choice and compatibility across hardware and software, while accelerating their ability to benefit from new, cutting-edge features.
- Simplifying architectural guidelines to enhance software consistency and standardize interfaces across x86 product offerings from Intel and AMD.
- Enabling greater and more efficient integration of new capabilities into operating systems, frameworks and applications.
"x86 has been foundational to modern computing for over four decades, and we want to ensure it continues to evolve and benefit everyone going forward," said Satya Nadella, CEO of founding member Microsoft. "By bringing together partners across the industry, the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Board will play a critical role in shaping future x86."
This partnership between Intel and AMD is just the latest example of competition fostering unlikely tech alliances. Outside of their work around x86, the two companies are fierce rivals in the AI chip market, where Nvidia currently reigns.