According to insiders, NVIDIA wants to attack Intel head-on in one of the most important semiconductor markets with its own PC processors based on Arm technology.
The US company, known for its graphics cards and chips for artificial intelligence (AI), has started developing CPUs that could run Microsoft’s Windows operating system, the Reuters news agency learned from two people familiar with the process. Intel rival AMD also wants to build Arm processors for Windows. According to one of the insiders, NVIDIA and Arm could bring the new CPUs onto the market from 2025.
The companies mentioned initially declined to comment. The specialist publication SemiAccurate first reported on AMD’s plans. NVIDIA shares were temporarily up 0.41 percent at $431.51 in NASDAQ trading on Tuesday. Intel shares rose 2.11 percent to $34.57.
According to the information, the initiative is part of Microsoft’s effort to support companies in the development of Arm processors for Windows PCs. These processors have a different instruction set than the so-called x86 CPUs from Intel and AMD, which traditionally run Windows. NVIDIA and AMD would join QUALCOMM, which has been building Arm laptops for Windows since 2016. According to two insiders, a corresponding exclusive contract between QUALCOMM and Microsoft will expire next year. It was now said that Microsoft was encouraging other companies to enter the market. Microsoft doesn’t want to be dependent on a single provider, explained Jay Goldberg from the consulting company D2D Advisory.
Insider: Apple’s Arm success as a role model for Microsoft
According to one of the insiders, Microsoft wants to emulate Apple’s success by switching to Arm processors. It was said that managers at the Windows company had not missed how efficient the Arm processors developed by the iPhone manufacturer were in AI tasks, for example. This means that the new Macs have a significantly longer battery life. Microsoft wants similar performance for Windows computers. In the three years since the introduction of home-grown Arm CPUs, Apple has almost doubled its market share, according to preliminary third-quarter data from research institute IDC.
It remains to be seen whether such an initiative by Microsoft and the chip companies will be successful. Software developers have invested billions over the decades in programs for Windows on x86 processors – Intel owns the instruction set, AMD has a license. Since such programs do not automatically run on Arm processors, a transition phase would be required. Apple also had to go through this after the break with Intel. However, the Mac manufacturer has full control over the hardware of its computers, while Windows runs on machines from various manufacturers.
In addition, Intel is not idle and is also developing AI capabilities for its chips. The company recently demonstrated a laptop on which language models, similar to the one behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI service, ran directly on the computer instead of on servers on the Internet. Intel manager Sachin Kattin spoke of “higher performance, lower costs and AI with more privacy” in a Reuters interview in September. The first chips from the CPU series known as “Meteor Lake” are expected in December.
San Francisco (Reuters)
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