Intel is entering the graphics processing unit (GPU) market, a sector long dominated by Nvidia, as part of a broader effort to reposition the company in the fast-evolving semiconductor industry. At the Cisco AI Summit on Tuesday, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan announced the company’s plans to begin developing and producing GPUs—specialized chips essential for gaming, graphics rendering, and increasingly, artificial intelligence workloads. The move marks a significant strategic shift for Intel, which has traditionally focused on central processing units (CPUs). However, as demand for high-performance computing accelerates, especially in AI training and inference, GPUs have become indispensable. Nvidia’s dominance in this space has been built on its advanced GPU architectures, which power much of the current wave of generative AI innovation. Intel’s GPU initiative will be led by Kevork Kechichian, executive vice president and general manager of Intel’s data center group. Kechichian joined the company in September as part of a series of high-profile engineering hires aimed at strengthening Intel’s technical leadership. In January, Intel also brought on Eric Demers, a veteran of Qualcomm, where he served as senior vice president of engineering for over 13 years. His experience in mobile and data center chip design is expected to play a key role in the GPU project. While the initiative is still in its early stages, Tan emphasized that Intel will be shaping its GPU strategy based on customer needs and market demands. The company is taking a deliberate approach, focusing on building capabilities that align with its core strengths in manufacturing and system integration. This expansion into GPUs represents a notable pivot for Intel, especially given that Tan had previously signaled a plan to consolidate and refocus the company’s efforts when he took over as CEO in March. Though GPUs are still a type of semiconductor, their development requires different expertise and architecture compared to CPUs—making this a meaningful step beyond Intel’s traditional domain. As the AI race intensifies, the competition for leadership in chip technology is heating up. With Nvidia’s current market dominance, Intel’s entry into the GPU space could reshape the landscape—offering a potential alternative for cloud providers, data centers, and AI developers seeking more options.