Nvidia buys into Intel in $5 billion deal, AI crypto rallies
TL;DR Breakdown
- Nvidia will invest $5B in Intel and co-develop custom data-center and PC chips.
- The deal sent Intel stock up 24% to $30.7, while Nvidia’s value swelled to $4.29T.
- AI crypto tokens rallied on the news, lifting the AI market cap above $36.5B.
Nvidia will invest $5 billion in Intel and collaborate on a new line of custom data-center and PC products. It will aim to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. The world’s most valuable public company saw a surge of over 3% in its share price.
The AI crypto tokens posted an uptick on Nvidia’s bullish move. The cumulative AI crypto market cap surged by 5% to breach the $36.56 billion mark. Its 24-hour trading volume spiked by 19% to hit $8 billion. The biggest crypto, Bitcoin, price jumped by 2% backing the trend.
Intel Stock Soars 24% on Nvidia Deal
As per the deal announced, Intel will build and offer Nvidia-custom x86 CPUs for use in AI data center infrastructure. It will also produce PC system-on-chips that combine Intel’s CPUs with Nvidia RTX GPU chiplets. Nvidia said the effort will “seamlessly connect” the companies’ architectures through NVLink, merging its accelerated computing platforms with Intel’s entrenched x86 ecosystem.
As part of the tie-up, Nvidia will acquire Intel shares at $23.28 each. It will be about 6.5% below Wednesday’s closing price. Intel stock jumped 24% on the news and lifted its market cap to $143 billion. It is trading at an average price of $30.7 at the press time. Nvidia shares edged close to 4%, hitting to $4.29 trillion in value. It is trading at an average price of $176.6 at the press time. The move comes just weeks after the US government bought a 10% stake in Intel for $8.9 billion to boost domestic chipmaking capacity.
AI Tokens Rally on Nvidia–Intel Deal
AI-linked tokens outperformed the broader sector. NEAR Protocol surged more than 15% in the last 24 hours. NEAR is trading at an average price of $3.13, its highest in a month. Its 24-hour trading volume spiked by 109% to sit at $388 million. Fetch.ai’s FET gained 6.7% and Bittensor’s TAO advanced 5.8%. OORT turned out to be the biggest gainer among the AI tokens. It jumped by 27% to hit $0.0718 at the press time.
The partnership highlights how AI is reshaping both traditional chipmaking and digital assets. Nvidia’s dominance in GPUs has made it a bellwether for AI enthusiasm. It is pushing crypto investors who view AI tokens as a proxy trade on the sector’s momentum. By joining forces, the two firms are betting that pairing Intel’s x86 ecosystem with Nvidia’s AI hardware can meet demand from hyperscale data centers, as well as high-performance consumer PCs.
