Intel and AMD have formed an advisory group for the x86 processor platform, hoping to “shape the future of the world’s most widely used computing architecture.” It’s a sign AMD and Intel are worried about ARM-based chips becoming more popular on PCs and servers.
AMD and Intel have formed the ‘x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group’ in partnership with Broadcom, Dell, Google, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, and other tech companies. The goal is to ensure x86 as a hardware platform “continues evolving as the compute platform of choice for both developers and customers.” The group will help standardize x86 instructions and other architecture designs, ensuring processors from Intel and AMD remain hardware-compatible and gain new features together.
The x86 architecture dates to the Intel 8086 processor from 1978, used in the original IBM PC. The success of the IBM PC and PC-compatible clones boosted the popularity of the x86 hardware platform throughout the 1980s, and the “Wintel” partnership of Windows PCs with Intel processors in the 1990s, cemented x86 as the most popular CPU architecture. The AIM alliance between Apple, IBM, and Motorola tried to establish PowerPC as a competitor in the 1990s, but it didn’t catch on, and Apple switched to x86 chips in 2006.
However, the x86 architecture now has significant competition from ARM-based designs, which generally have greater power efficiency than x86 chips. Apple now uses its own ARM-based ‘Apple Silicon’ chips across iPads and Macs, and Windows laptops with ARM-based Snapdragon X chips are becoming more common. Over half of cloud servers are expected to use ARM by 2026.
The ARM architecture is licensed to many different companies to make custom chip designs, including Apple, Qualcomm (Snapdragon), MediaTek, NVIDIA, and Samsung. In comparison, Intel and AMD are the only companies currently developing x86 CPUs. Intel owns the patents for the original 32-bit x86 design, and AMD owns the patents for the 64-bit extensions (after Intel’s original version failed), with both companies cross-licensing the technologies to allow continued CPU development. It’s like mutually assured destruction, but for processors.
It remains to be seen if the new advisory board, in combination with newer hybrid CPU designs from Intel and AMD, will help x86 stay relevant in an increasingly ARM-focused world. Meanwhile, AMD and NVIDIA are still reportedly working on ARM-based chips for desktop PCs, and companies like Qualcomm are also investing in RISC-V as a potential alternative.
Source: Intel
