Intel and AMD head x86 ecosystem advisory group; ARM's fear?

Written by Guillaume

Publication date: {{ dayjs(1729440009*1000).local().format("L").toString()}}

This article is an automatic translation

When the two historic - and rival - PC processor manufacturers decided to form an alliance around the x86 architecture, we began to believe in miracles.

Founded in 1968 and 1969 respectively, Intel and AMD are two of the behemoths of the PC world. For decades, the two American companies have been designing and producing the processors used in our desktops and laptops. Year after year, their product releases have punctuated the evolution of the PC world, but recently, the tide has turned. First, of course, there was the smartphone revolution and the drop in PC sales. But more recently, it's a very different threat that's "finally" materializing: ARM architecture is being used - notably by Qualcomm - to design chips that Microsoft has decided to make compatible with its famous Windows.

Anxious to protect their interests, but perhaps also aware that there's strength in numbers, Intel and AMD have decided to collaborate through the creation of an " x86 ecosystem advisory group ". Led by Intel and AMD, the group brings together some of the biggest names in the PC industry, including Broadcom, Dell, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP, Lenovo, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle and Red Hat. Tim Sweeney and Linus Torvalds also feature prominently (see illustration below): the former is the founder and current CEO of Epic Games, while the latter is the creator of the Linux kernel.

Beyond these few names, this grouping of such important companies doesn't appear to be about making up the numbers. The aim is to " bring together technology leaders to shape the future of the world's most widely used computer architecture ", the x86, and three objectives have already been mentioned:

" improve customers' choice and compatibility between hardware and software, while accelerating their ability to benefit from new cutting-edge functionalities,
simplify architectural guidelines to improve software consistency and standardize interfaces between Intel and AMD x86 product offerings,
enable greater and more efficient integration of new functionality into operating systems, frameworks and applications ".

Of course, competition from ARM is on everyone's mind, and the formation of such an interest group could well energize the x86 world... which is obviously not to our displeasure. However, some of the terms used by Intel and AMD may surprise or even disappoint. They talk of " simplifying architectural guidelines " and " standardizing interfaces between Intel and AMD x86 product offerings ". Nor should AMD's and Intel's innovation be completely scuttled by the formation of this grouping and the obvious rapprochements it entails. To be verified in the months/years to come...