Intel and Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a co-investment in custom chip designs, part of a multi-year, multi-billion dollar deal that covers products and wafers from Intel.
In an email press release, Intel said the collaboration would help customers power “virtually any workload” and would accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) performance. Intel didn’t disclose the exact value of the AWS deal.
According to Intel, the expanded partnership will see it produce an “AI fabric chip” for AWS using its Intel 18A process node. The company will also make custom Xeon 6 chips using the Intel 3 node, building on an existing partnership where Intel makes Xeon processors for AWS.
Intel also highlighted how the AWS collaboration underscores the companies’ commitments to accelerating U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturing, including plans to build manufacturing in Ohio. Similarly, AWS plans to invest $7.8 billion USD ($10.6 billion CAD) to expand data centre operations in Ohio.
The expanded collaboration comes at a key time for Intel, which has faced increased pressure in recent months. In August, the company announced plans to lay off over 15,000 employees and cut billions in costs. Earlier this month, reports suggested Intel’s chip manufacturing business failed tests, raising concerns over the Intel 18A node. Elsewhere, the company lost out on a major potential customer when Sony reportedly opted for AMD chips over Intel’s offerings for the yet-to-be-revealed PlayStation 6.
Intel also recently announced it would spin off the chip foundry business as an independent subsidiary.
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