'AI is reshaping how infrastructure is built and scaled': Intel and Google sign major Xeon chip deal to power the next generation of AI

Date:
Tue, 14 Apr 2026 22:15:00 +0000

Description:
Intel and Google signed a multiyear Xeon deal while co-developing IPUs to
keep x86 relevant against Arm's rise in AI servers.

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now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Intel and Google signed a multi-year deal to keep Xeon in cloud infrastructure Google Cloud instances C4 and N4 already
run on Xeon 6 processors Intel and Google are co-developing custom IPUs for networking and storage Intel and Google have announced a multi-year collaboration that will keep Intel Xeon processors at the heart of Google Cloud infrastructure for the foreseeable future.

The agreement spans multiple generations of Xeon chips and includes systems used for AI workloads, inference tasks, and general-purpose computing across Googles global data centers. Google Cloud instances such as C4 and N4 already rely on Xeon 6 processors, and this deal ensures that pattern continues. Article continues below You may like AI in networks isnt CPU vs. GPU: Intel unveils 18A-based Clearwater Forest Xeon 6+ for edge AI and early 6G infrastructure Intel and SambaNova introduce a hardware system combining
GPUs, RDUs, and CPUs Intel is finally back in the desktop workstation game - new Xeon 600 features Granite Rapids power, up to 86 cores, 4TB of memory Why CPUs still matter in an era of specialized AI hardware AI is reshaping how infrastructure is built and scaled, said Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel.

Scaling AI requires more than accelerators it requires balanced systems.
CPUs and IPUs are central to delivering the performance, efficiency, and flexibility modern AI workloads demand.

The announcement comes at a time when many hyperscalers are accelerating adoption of custom Arm -based processors for AI tasks.

Counterpoint Research recently claimed 90% of AI servers running custom silicon will rely on the Arm instruction set architecture, leaving x86 with only a small share of new deployments. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me
with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

To ensure Xeon remains relevant, Intel and Google are also jointly developing custom infrastructure processing units designed to handle networking,
storage, and security workloads.

These IPUs operate as ASIC-based accelerators that move infrastructure tasks away from host CPUs, freeing Xeon processors to focus on application execution.

This separation improves system efficiency and resource allocation across large cloud deployments running AI tools , AI agents, and large language models . What to read next Arm introduces its first in-house AGI CPU with backing from Meta and OpenAI 'AI is entering its next frontier... the foundation of the AI industrial revolution': Nvidia confirms CoreWeave will
be among the first to get Vera Rubin chips as it doubles down on financial commitments 'No one deploys AI at Metas scale': Meta signs up Nvidia to power its next big AI projects so what exactly do Mark Zuckerberg and Jensen Huang have planned?

CPUs and infrastructure acceleration remain a cornerstone of AI systems from training orchestration to inference and deployment, said Amin Vahdat, SVP and Chief Technologist for AI Infrastructure at Google.

Google currently uses both Xeon 5 and Xeon 6 processors across multiple service layers alongside its own custom Arm-based Axion processors.

These deployments continue alongside Googles own custom processors used in other parts of its infrastructure stack.

Intel and Google state that collaboration across CPUs and IPUs will continue across future system generations, covering ongoing integration efforts across cloud infrastructure layers.

They maintain that CPUs and infrastructure accelerators remain part of
current cloud design patterns across distributed systems.

Many workloads running in Googles data centers require backward compatibility with x86 architecture, while others need maximum single-thread performance that Xeon CPUs deliver.

These requirements are expected to persist for years, which explains why
Intel and Google signed this multi-year agreement. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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