Intel–Google multiyear deal

Intel and Google said on April 9 they signed a multiyear agreement to keep Intel chips in Google Cloud and to jointly build more data-center processors. (intel.com) The deal covers multiple generations of Intel Xeon central processing units, including Xeon 6, for Google Cloud systems that handle artificial intelligence, inference, and general-purpose computing. Google and Intel also said they will expand work on custom application-specific integrated circuit infrastructure processing units, or IPUs. (intel.com) An infrastructure processing unit is a chip that takes networking, security, and storage chores off the main processor, the way a warehouse loader frees a clerk from moving boxes. Intel said pairing Xeon central processing units with IPUs is meant to raise utilization and cut complexity in large artificial intelligence systems. (intel.com) Google Cloud already uses Intel processors in its C4 and N4 virtual machine families, and Network World reported the latest Xeon 6 chips power those instances. That puts Intel in the part of the stack that coordinates training jobs, serves model responses, and runs ordinary cloud software around the accelerators. (networkworld.com) Google has spent the past year promoting its own Tensor Processing Units, including the Ironwood chip it introduced at Google Cloud Next in April 2025 for generative artificial intelligence inference. The Intel agreement leaves that strategy in place while adding more emphasis on the central processing units and support chips that sit next to accelerators in a data center. (blog.google) Reuters reported on April 9 that the companies are also developing custom infrastructure processors as demand shifts toward systems that mix graphics processing units, central processing units, and specialized chips. Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan said in the company announcement that “scaling AI requires more than accelerators.” (reuters.com) For Intel, the Google contract adds a large cloud customer at a time when the company is trying to regain ground in data-center chips. CNBC reported Google’s commitment extends Intel’s role in Google infrastructure even as cloud providers invest heavily in in-house silicon and Nvidia graphics processors. (cnbc.com) Google and Intel have worked together on server hardware for more than two decades, according to both companies’ recent statements. The new agreement keeps that relationship in place for the artificial intelligence build-out, with Intel selling the processors that keep the rest of the machine running. (intel.com)