Intel, AMD forge x86 alliance

The old adage “the enemy of my enemy is my ally” has been borne out again, with AMD and Intel joining forces with a number of their largest partners to create the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group, a consortium that aims to drive forward the ecosystem around x86 processors.

Now why would these two enemies become allies? One word: Arm. The processor that got its start in smartphones has been slowly expanding into desktop PCs and servers, where AMD and Intel have ruled for decades. With the alliance, AMD and Intel are partnering to defend their own market position against Arm.

“We are on the cusp of one of the most significant changes in the x86 architecture and ecosystem in decades – with a new level of customization, compatibility and scalability required to meet current and future customer demands,” said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in a statement. “We proudly stand alongside AMD and the founding members of the Advisory Group as we drive the future of computing.”

But the two aren’t going alone. Other members of the consortium include Broadcom, Dell, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lenovo, Meta, Oracle, Microsoft and Red Hat. In addition, Linux head developer Linus Torvalds and Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney will also have input.

The group wants to improve compatibility between different hardware and software platforms, simplify software development, and identify “new architectural requirements and functions.” AMD and Intel have different instruction sets beyond the core x86 architecture, such as for AI algorithms, but it seems now they’re looking to collaborate with the industry rather than go it alone.

Which is necessary step, says Jim McGregor, principal analyst with Tirias Research. “I’m sure a bit of it was frustration from the ecosystem and increased competition from Arm-based solutions. Intel and AMD working together to define functions and instructions is long overdue,” he told me.

Microsoft is probably the most interesting addition to the group, because its emphasis has been on GPUs and its own custom Arm project. The three major cloud providers – AWS, Google, and Microsoft – are all designing Arm server CPUs under the names brand names of Graviton, Axion, and Cobalt, respectively.

However, the real threat to Intel and AMD lies on the client side. Apple has now switched completely to its own Arm-based CPUs (Apple Silicon), Microsoft is driving Windows on Arm with Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, and Mediatek is working on a processor for notebooks for release in 2025.

“Arm is still limited in the server realm,” said McGregor. “However, it is also heat from the ecosystem. Just look at the advisor board they assembled. Those are the companies most likely looking for some consistency.”