Intel and Google have expanded their partnership to build stronger systems for artificial intelligence (AI), with a focus on central processing units and custom infrastructure chips.
Intel said on Thursday that Google will continue using its Xeon processors across a wide range of workloads.
This includes inference and general computing, as companies move from training AI models to running them in real-world applications.
That transition is changing demand. More firms now need chips that can handle steady, heavy workloads rather than short bursts of training. CPUs are becoming more important again, especially for inference tasks and memory-heavy operations.
Google will also adopt Intel’s latest Xeon 6 processors. These chips are designed to improve efficiency and handle larger volumes of data.
According to the companies, they are already being used in Google Cloud’s C4 virtual machines, where they deliver significant cost improvements when running open-source AI models.
At the same time, both firms are working more closely on infrastructure processing units, known as IPUs.
These chips take over tasks such as networking, storage and security, which are usually handled by CPUs. In moving those jobs away, the CPUs can focus on core computing work.
Intel’s chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said: “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 growing use of agent-based AI systems is also pushing demand higher. These systems carry out multi-step tasks and need more background processing power, which usually falls on CPUs rather than specialised accelerators.
For Intel, this is important as the company lost ground earlier in the AI boom to competitors that focused on graphics processing units. Now, it is trying to recover by strengthening its position in general-purpose and infrastructure computing.
The partnership with Google gives it a strong foothold in cloud computing, where demand for AI services is continually increasing.
Intel is also expanding its efforts elsewhere. It recently said it will join a new AI chip project linked to Elon Musk, working alongside SpaceX and Tesla to support robotics and data centre development.
In manufacturing, the company plans to take full control of its Ireland facility by buying back a stake from Apollo Global Management. The site produces Xeon server processors and is paramount to Intel’s supply chain.
Both Google and Intel are expected to highlight their joint work later this month at Google Cloud Next 2026 in Las Vegas, where they will present updates on AI infrastructure, security and edge computing.
