Rivals to Partners: Nvidia Pumps $5B Investment Into Intel. Teaming Up?

Nvidia was once rejected by Intel (the company declined to acquire Nvidia for $20 billion in 2000). After two decades of that, in September 2025, Nvidia gave a lifeline to Intel by buying its shares worth $5 billion. The king of chips, Intel, back then didn’t believe in the idea of the GPU (graphics processing unit). Right now, Nvidia is the biggest AI chipmaker and has come to Intel’s rescue, owning 4% of the company. So, why did the tables turn? Does AI have any role in this shift? Why are rivals partnering together now? Learn more. 

Why Is This a Big Deal?

For decades, Nvidia and Intel have been rivals in the chip-making industry. Ironically, Nvidia was rejected by Intel in 2000, but since 2025, both have been partnering for AI and PC development.

This move has come after:

• In August, the U.S. government acquired a 10% stake in Intel.
• And SoftBank (Japan) invested about $2 billion in Intel.
• So, in short, Intel is becoming a global AI and chip hub with tech giants investing in it.

What Intel And Nvidia Are Planning Together?

For AI Data Centers:

• In this deal, Intel will make CPUs (computer processors) that are specially customized for Nvidia.
• These customized CPUs will directly work with Nvidia’s AI platforms.
• These CPUs will use NVLink, Nvidia’s powerful tech that enables fast communication between chips.
• The goal is to build super-efficient AI data centers that combine Intel’s CPUs + Nvidia’s GPUs.

For Personal Computers (PCs):

• In the case of PCs, Intel is planning to build new x86 system-on-chips (SoCs).
• These SoCs, powered by Intel, will have Nvidia RTX GPU chiplets (meaning these are small, powerful graphics parts).
• Currently, the PCs come with these two separate chips, but this is no longer the case. PCs will come with Intel CPUs + Nvidia RTX graphics combined in one chip.
• So, the PCs will be more powerful for AI, gaming, and heavy computing.

What Did Nvidia’s CEO Say?

Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, calls this partnership “historic.”

He affirmed that AI is the start of a new industrial revolution. According to him, everything in computing would change, from chips to software.

According to Jensen, combining Nvidia’s AI stack (CUDA, GPUs, accelerated computing) with Intel’s CPUs and x86 ecosystem (the standard for most PCs) will:

• Boost for companies’ ecosystems.
• Set a solid foundation for next-gen computing.
• And strengthening both of their dominance in the chip-making industry. 

He said, “AI is powering a new industrial revolution and reinventing every layer of the computing stack — from silicon to systems to software. At the heart of this reinvention is Nvidia’s CUDA architecture.”