Intel CEO touts AI resurgence at Computex after Nvidia, Google partnerships

Nvidia and Google Back Intel With Major Partnerships, Signaling Chipmaker’s AI Resurgence

Intel enters Computex 2026 buoyed by a series of partnerships that have repositioned the company at the center of AI infrastructure. Over the past nine months, Nvidia committed $5 billion to Intel and agreed to co-develop data center and PC products, while Google locked in a multiyear deal to keep deploying Intel processors and jointly build custom chips — votes of confidence that CEO Lip-Bu Tan is using to argue the CPU remains indispensable in the AI era.

Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet

In September 2025, Nvidia agreed to purchase Intel common stock at $23.28 per share and collaborate on “multiple generations” of forthcoming products for data centers and PCs. Under the deal, Intel will design custom CPUs that pair with Nvidia’s GPUs, while Intel’s upcoming PC chips will integrate Nvidia graphics technology. Then at GTC 2026 in March, Intel announced that its Xeon 6 processor had been selected as the host CPU in Nvidia’s DGX Rubin NVL8 systems, extending the x86 pairing already established with the Xeon 6776P in current Blackwell-based DGX B300 platforms. In that configuration, the host CPU handles task orchestration, memory management, scheduling, and data movement to GPU accelerators.yahoo

Google Deepens the Relationship

In April 2026, Google and Intel announced a multiyear collaboration under which Google Cloud will continue utilizing Intel Xeon processors — including the latest Xeon 6 chips — for AI, inference, and general-purpose workloads. The companies also expanded their co-development of custom ASIC-based infrastructure processing units, programmable accelerators designed to offload networking, storage, and security tasks from host CPUs. The IPU effort traces back to 2021, but the renewed agreement formalizes continued joint development as AI workloads strain data center resources.intel

Tan’s Vision for the CPU

Speaking during Intel’s Q1 2026 earnings call in April, Tan framed the developments in sweeping terms. “For the last few years, the story around high-performance computing was almost exclusively about GPU,” he said. “In recent months, we have seen clear signs that the CPU is reinserting itself as the indispensable foundation of the AI era.”calcalistech

He added: “CPU now serves as the orchestration layer and critical control plane for the entire AI stack. This is not just our wishful thinking — it is evident in the demand profile for our products.”calcalistech

Tan is set to elaborate on that thesis today at Computex 2026 in Taipei, where he is delivering a keynote titled “The Next Era of AI” focused on Intel’s role across client, edge, and data center markets.servethehome