Intel and AMD Join Forces to Form the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group

At the Lenovo TechWorld event held on October 16, 2024, Intel and AMD officially announced the establishment of the X86 Ecosystem Advisory Group, the core goal of which is to promote the development of computing power and deepen the collaboration between the two technology leaders in the computing industry. This cooperation initiative indicates that with the booming development of artificial intelligence technology, the X86 architecture is entering a critical period full of new opportunities and changes.

For more than 40 years, the x86 architecture has firmly occupied the cornerstone of modern computing and is widely welcomed by the global data center and personal computing markets. The rapid development of technology has led to increasingly diversified user demands for computing architecture, especially in terms of customization, compatibility and scalability. At present, Intel and AMD, as the only two major x86 architecture licensees that can mass-produce new processors, have established a situation of two heroes standing side by side. However, both companies face competitive pressure from Arm, which has made progress in the PC field and the data center market respectively by licensing competing computing architectures to Apple, Qualcomm, Amazon, Microsoft, Google and other companies. Arm’s rise is partly due to a key provision in its business model: All Arm chips can run all Arm software, regardless of which manufacturer makes them, a strategy that greatly enhances its market competitiveness.

Compared to other situations, Intel and AMD both use the same underlying x86 technology in their chip designs, but occasionally need to make specific adjustments to the software to ensure smooth operation on their platforms. Faced with the increasingly fierce competition of the ARM architecture, the two companies announced that they will work with Broadcom, Dell, Lenovo and Oracle to jointly form an “advisory committee” to improve this situation.

The newly established x86 advisory committee will bring together multiple companies in the hardware and software industries to collect their professional opinions on the “key performance and characteristics” of Intel and AMD chips, aiming to ensure that these chips can show “excellent uniformity and compatibility” in a variety of application scenarios. Intel officially announced that the committee will be committed to exploring novel ways to expand the boundaries of the x86 ecosystem, promote seamless cross-platform compatibility, simplify the software development process, and create a platform for developers to deeply understand the requirements and characteristics of the architecture, and work together to create a future solution blueprint that is both innovative and scalable.

From a market perspective, the impact of this decision on the entire industry cannot be underestimated. The continuous advancement of the x86 architecture will ensure that it remains at the forefront of the highly competitive market and provide solid underlying support for the rise of emerging technologies. Compared with other architectures, x86’s superior performance in compatibility and performance will undoubtedly win it more market share. More importantly, with the continuous evolution of cloud computing and edge computing technologies, the x86 architecture will become a key cornerstone for meeting future computing needs and play a vital role.

In her subsequent speech, Dr. Lisa Su, Chairman and CEO of AMD, emphasized that the X86 Ecosystem Advisory Group we established clearly reflects the unique style of today’s technology field. Ultimately, our core goal is to accelerate the improvement of computing power and promote the widespread popularization and application of computing technology. Over the past four decades, the X86 architecture has always maintained its industry leadership. Now, AMD and Intel have joined hands with all founding members (together to form the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group) to further accelerate the pace of innovation on the road ahead.

Although Intel and AMD have always been mortal enemies, they are not without friendship in industry cooperation. They have been promoting important progress in the x86 ecosystem for many years, such as the formulation of key standards such as PCI, PCIe, Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), and the development of USB, which are all important technologies that are essential to all computers. The establishment of the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group this time marks another upgrade of the cooperation between the two giants, aiming to bring more innovation to the entire computing ecosystem and become a catalyst for product upgrades.

The cooperation between Intel and AMD, two industry giants, undoubtedly provides valuable opportunities for further innovation and development of the X86 architecture. However, opportunities and challenges coexist, and the two giants also face many urgent problems in their cooperation, including how to quickly respond to market demand, how to carry out technological innovation, and how to maintain the vitality of the ecosystem.

In general, the establishment of the x86 Advisory Group by Intel and AMD is an important milestone, marking an important step for the two companies in promoting the unification and compatibility of the x86 architecture. In the future, with the addition of more companies and functions, the x86 ecosystem will be more open, unified, and powerful. Of course, given the complexity of modern processor design and its long R&D cycle, it may not be realistic to expect the advisory group to quickly play a core role. But there is no doubt that this move has undoubtedly laid a positive and promising starting point for the future development of the x86 architecture.