Is Arm a threat to x86 chips? Intel and Amd lead alliance to protect PC and server ecosystem

Called Ecosystem Advisory Group x86, it is an advisory group announced on a special occasion (the Lenovo Tech World 2024) and, above all, it has a very specific purpose: to protect the interests of companies working with x86 architecture from the progressive advance of the Arm platform. This is a clear stance by part of the global technology industry, although the official note that sanctioned its birth speaks of more generic objectives, for example that of promoting innovation and standardisation within the world's most widespread computer chip ecosystem. The list of companies participating in this initiative is long as well as varied and includes well-known names such as Broadcom, Dell, Google Cloud, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP, Lenovo, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle and Red Hat. Rounding out the 'team' are such high-profile figures from the tech universe as Linus Torvalds and Tim Sweeney (daddy of Linux and CEO of Epic Games, respectively), while two historical rivals in the microprocessor business, namely Intel and Amd, are in the founders' box.

The rapprochement between the two leading powers in silicon products for personal computers and servers is newsworthy but perhaps not so surprising in relation to the change of scenery in this sector. Whereas for around four decades, x86 technology had the classic lion's share of the computing systems market, today systems based on Arm architecture represent a very real threat (as well as an alternative), reflecting the strategies of companies such as Apple and Qualcomm and, nonetheless, that of Nvidia, which has taken the sceptre of the market for enterprise-class processors for artificial intelligence. Arm's chase after the Intel-Amd duopoly goes back a long way, to when (several years ago) Qualcomm began to wink at the PC world with its Snapdragon processors (today, some AI PC lines with Windows operating systems are equipped with the Californian company's well-known chip family) and when Apple, in 2020, decided to abandon Intel and focus on its own Silicon chips based on Arm architecture for its Mac and (from 2023) Mac Pro.

As stated in the press release issued in recent days, the newly formed group "will focus on identifying new ways to expand the x86 ecosystem, enabling cross-platform compatibility, simplifying software development, and providing the developer community with a platform to identify architectural needs and features to create innovative and scalable solutions for the future". In other words, the intention of the companies behind this new alliance is to strengthen consistency and interoperability between solutions and products that exploit x86 technology, while facilitating the work of those who write and compile applications. The message that Intel and Amd (for whom rumours were circulating some time ago of a possible Arm chip for PCs on the launch pad in 2025) are sending to the market is, in short, quite explicit and is based on the further evolution of the x86 architecture, promising its relevance for the years (and decades) to come. The group's areas of focus, as the launch communication goes on to state, 'will cover all sectors', namely data centres, the cloud, client devices, edge devices and embedded devices.

Amd's number one, Lisa Su, was very direct in this regard: "the establishment of the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group will ensure that this architecture continues to develop as the preferred computing platform for developers and customers". Also echoing her was Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who emphasised that today we stand 'on the threshold of one of the most significant changes in the x86 architecture in decades'. The reference most likely goes to the turning point imposed by the pervasive spread of artificial intelligence and the consequent need to support greater workloads and achieve new levels of customisation and scalability to meet the current and future needs of users. If Gelsinger speaks of collaboration being necessary to 'ignite the future of computing', however, it is not yet so explicit how the new group wants to operationally stimulate developers' ability to innovate by providing them with a set of simpler, shared architectural guidelines. The path identified is to gather input from the hardware and software communities and thus facilitate the integration and implementation of new x86 architecture-related capabilities in operating systems, frameworks and applications. The design, on paper, is more than understandable. It will now be a matter of understanding whether the good intentions will be followed by concrete and lasting actions, whether the armistice between Intel and Amd will bear fruit (the two companies have actively collaborated in the past for the development of important standards such as Pci and Usb) and whether Microsoft will not retrace its steps when it comes to rediscussing the licence it granted to Qualcomm to produce Windows-compatible Arm processors. At stake, as the CEOs of Intel and Amd say, is the new phase of the entire computing ecosystem.