Nvidia and Qualcomm challenge Intel and AMD in CPUs

Nvidia, Qualcomm and MediaTek are moving deeper into CPU markets long dominated by Intel and AMD, as AI infrastructure demand reshapes server and PC supply chains. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has described the CPU market as heading toward a $200 billion industry and said the company aims to reinvent PC and server processors.

Nvidia’s Vera data center CPU includes 88 high-performance cores, while its RTX Spark PC chip is being developed with Taiwan’s MediaTek. RTX Spark is set to appear in new Windows PCs from Microsoft, Dell, HP, ASUS, Lenovo and MSI. Qualcomm has also unveiled a data center chip lineup, positioning itself as another challenger in AI processors.

Intel and AMD face pressure from constrained supply as AI-driven server demand forces capacity toward general and storage servers. That has tightened PC supplies, pushed quoted CPU prices up an average of 10 to 15% so far this year, and stretched some wait times from one or two weeks to eight to twelve.

China is adding another layer of competition through a reported plan of about $295 billion to build a nationwide AI computing grid based largely on domestic chips. Nine categories of home-grown AI chips from companies including Huawei, Alibaba, Shanghai Biren and Moore Threads have cleared a Chinese government security review for sensitive deployments.