Intel, AMD sign long-term server CPU deals with Chinese clients as prices surge

US chipmaking giants Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are ​signing longer-term purchase commitments with Chinese server ​customers for data-centre processors as prices surge, two people familiar with the ​talks said.

The move highlights a broader consequence of the AI boom: demand has spread beyond AI accelerators to memory, networking gear and server processors, giving suppliers greater leverage to seek long-term purchase deals.

AI data centres require not only Nvidia-style ‌graphics processors (GPUs) ⁠but also ⁠large numbers of central processing units (CPUs) to support servers, storage, networking and inference workloads.