Shares of Intel climbed in premarket U.S. trading on Wednesday following a Taiwan-based industry report that said Nvidia intends to collaborate with the U.S. chipmaker on next-generation graphics processors.
The report, published by DigiTimes and attributed to supply-chain contacts, said Nvidia - widely viewed as a central beneficiary of the AI computing boom - is planning to work with Intel on its Feynman microarchitecture, a GPU family slated for release in 2028. The same report indicated Apple would also be part of the collaboration.
According to the supply-chain sources cited in the report, the companies involved are targeting "low volume, low-tier, non-core" production runs. The purported rationale is to satisfy U.S. chipmaking rules while preserving Nvidia’s relationship with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract manufacturer.
The DigiTimes report included technical and production details. It said portions of the input/output die for the Feynman GPUs - the specialized chiplet responsible for managing communication between processor cores and external components - are likely to be fabricated using Intel’s 18A process or its forthcoming 14A technology. The article also stated Intel would perform up to one-quarter of the final packaging work for the Feynman GPUs, with TSMC handling the remaining 75% of packaging.
The report follows a December disclosure that Nvidia had purchased as much as $5 billion of Intel shares. The December purchases, alongside investments from supporters such as Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and funding from the U.S. government, have been described as key support for Intel during a period of strategic challenges that pressured the company’s finances.
Intel’s stock move arrives against a backdrop of recent company guidance that disappointed investors. Last week Intel issued a quarterly revenue and profit outlook that fell short of expectations, noting the company is struggling to keep pace with surging AI server chip demand even as its new PC processors are pressuring margins.
Context and implications
- The reported collaboration would involve multiple parties and a split in production responsibilities between Intel and TSMC.
- Technical work identified in the report focuses on the I/O die and the use of Intel’s advanced process nodes (18A and 14A).
- Market reactions include a premarket uptick in Intel shares, while the company also faces near-term headwinds from an underwhelming outlook.
All information in this article is drawn from the supply-chain report and recent company disclosures referenced in that report.