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CPU supply and IPU co-development... Stock price up over 26% this month
American semiconductor company Intel is making a comeback, strengthening its collaboration with Google after Tesla.
Intel announced on the 9th (local time) that it has signed a multi-year contract to supply its latest central processing unit (CPU) 'Xeon 6' and other core semiconductors to Google Cloud servers.
Google had used Intel chips before, and this agreement is an extension of that.
Intel emphasized that its Xeon CPUs enhance the performance and energy efficiency of Google's infrastructure and reduce total cost of ownership.
The two companies also agreed to expand cooperation on the joint development of custom Infrastructure Processing Units (IPUs).
IPUs are chips that improve the efficiency of data centers, handling internal communication, information storage, and security.
As IPUs take over these tasks, which were originally handled by CPUs, CPUs can focus solely on their primary function of data processing.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan emphasized, "To scale AI, accelerators alone are not enough; a balanced system is needed. CPUs and IPUs play a central role in providing the performance, efficiency, and flexibility demanded by modern AI."
After years of financial difficulties, Intel, which brought in CEO Tan last year and underwent high-intensity restructuring by cutting one-third of its employees, is showing signs of revival as the importance of the CPU's role has been highlighted with the shift in the center of gravity of AI competition to 'AI agents'.
In this process, Intel also received investments from the Donald Trump administration, SoftBank, and NVIDIA, which are aiming for the resurgence of the US semiconductor industry.
In particular, President Trump supported Intel to gain an advantage in the semiconductor and AI hegemony competition with China and took measures for the US government to acquire approximately 10% of Intel's shares.
Regarding criticisms calling this 'state capitalism', President Trump defended his policy, saying, "I would do such a deal all day long for our country."
Intel announced yesterday that it would participate in 'Terrafab', a large-scale semiconductor manufacturing facility promoted by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and earlier this month, it reacquired shares in a joint venture for an Irish semiconductor manufacturing plant that it had sold due to past financial difficulties.
Intel's stock price rose more than 2.7% from the previous day's closing price, reaching $60.58 as of 1:30 PM Eastern Time. Compared to the closing price at the end of last month, it has risen by more than 26%.
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