NVIDIA is challenging Intel and AMD in the PC market. On Monday, shares of both companies dropped after NVIDIA introduced the RTX Spark, a new AI chip for personal computers that aims at the market long led by Intel and AMD. NVIDIA’s shares went up 2.3% in premarket trading, while Intel fell 6% and AMD dropped 4.2%. Here’s what the RTX Spark is and why its launch had such a big impact on the semiconductor industry.
The RTX Spark brings together an Arm-based CPU and one of NVIDIA’s Blackwell GPUs in a single chip made to run AI agents on personal devices. NVIDIA calls it the most efficient PC chip ever built. The company is teaming up with Microsoft, Dell, and HP to launch the chip, with about 30 laptop models and 10 desktop versions planned. NVIDIA is using technology licensed from Arm Holdings, whose shares jumped 13% after the announcement.
This move directly challenges Intel’s x86 architecture, which has been the foundation of the PC market for many years. An independent technology analyst said Jensen Huang’s Computex keynote basically called x86 outdated for both data centers and PCs, which are Intel’s main markets. This helps explain why Intel’s stock dropped more than any other chip company after the news.
Qualcomm’s shares also fell 10%, even though it has been the top Arm-based PC chip provider in recent years. With NVIDIA now entering the consumer PC chip market and offering Blackwell-class GPU performance, Qualcomm faces new competition from the leader in AI accelerators.
NVIDIA introduced the RTX Spark at Computex in Taiwan, an annual event that highlights the island’s tech industry and is a major stage for chip company announcements.
