How AMD, Intel plan to counter dominance of ARM chips
What's the story
Long-time rivals AMD and Intel have come together to create the x86 Advisory Group. The main goal of the partnership is to protect the x86 platform from the growing dominance of ARM chips. Other major tech companies including Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Lenovo are also involved in the effort. The announcement was made at Lenovo's Tech World 2024 conference in Bellevue, Washington.
CEO statements
CEOs affirm x86 architecture's vitality
The conference also had keynotes from AMD CEO Lisa Su and Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. Both the leaders highlighted the importance of the x86 architecture in the modern tech world. Gelsinger even claimed that the x86 architecture is "alive and well." The statement comes at a time when ARM-based chips have been increasingly dominating the scene over the last few years.
Group objectives
Group's mission and strategy
The x86 Advisory Group hopes to "enhance compatibility, predictability, and consistency across x86 product offerings." For this, they plan to seek feedback from hardware and software developers working with the x86 architecture. The group also plans to develop "simplified architectural guidelines" to standardize interfaces across products from AMD and Intel. This comes as a strategic response to the growing adoption of ARM-based chips by Apple, Qualcomm, etc.
Industry support
Industry giants back x86 Advisory Group
The x86 Advisory Group's founding members include industry heavyweights like Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Broadcom, Dell, Red Hat, and Oracle. Influential figures like Epic Games' Tim Sweeney and Linux creator Linus Torvalds are also part of the group. The collective aims to set up a more unified set of instructions and architectural interfaces for the x86 platform.