With all the talk about Intel, I wanted to highlight a win on their part. AWS has entered a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar partnership with Intel to develop custom AI chips, enhancing AI application performance and strengthening the US semiconductor supply chain. This collaboration will produce an AI fabric chip on Intel’s advanced 18A process and a custom Xeon 6 chip, while AWS plans to invest $7.8 billion to expand data center operations in Ohio. The partnership aims to leverage Intel’s semiconductor expertise and AWS’s cloud infrastructure to meet the growing demand for AI and machine learning workloads in cloud computing.
This is all amidst stories of Qualcomm considering a bid for Intel, raising concerns due to Intel’s dual role in chip design and manufacturing, which contrasts with Qualcomm’s design-only focus. Analysts express skepticism about the potential deal, citing risks and uncertainties, particularly regarding Intel’s manufacturing capabilities.
Why do we care?
The AWS-Intel partnership represents a crucial strategic win for Intel, enhancing its relevance in AI chip manufacturing and signaling a commitment to supporting the US semiconductor industry. Will it be enough? I’m skeptical, and your opinion is the key answer here.
