MediaTek Developing Arm-based PC Chip for Windows AI Laptops
TapTechNews, Jun 12 - According to Reuters, three people familiar with the matter revealed that the chip design giant MediaTek is developing a personal computer chip based on the Arm architecture, which will be used in Windows AI laptops.
Last month, Microsoft released a new generation of laptops with chips based on Arm technology that can run artificial intelligence applications. Microsoft executives believe this will be the development direction of future consumer computing. MediaTek's chip is developed in response to this trend.
Microsoft's move is aimed at competing with Apple, which has been using its self-developed Arm architecture chip in its Mac computers for as long as four years. In addition, Microsoft's decision to optimize the Windows operating system to be compatible with the Arm architecture may shake Intel's long-standing dominant position in the personal computer market.
As of TapTechNews' press time, both MediaTek and Microsoft refused to comment on this.
It is reported that two sources disclosed that MediaTek's personal computer chip is planned to be launched in the second half of next year, by which time the exclusive agreement of Qualcomm to provide chips for laptops will expire. The chip is based on the mature design provided by Arm, which can significantly speed up the R & D process, as using the existing tested chip components can reduce the design workload.
It is not yet clear whether Microsoft has approved the inclusion of MediaTek's personal computer chip in its Copilot+Windows plan.
Arm executives have said that one of their customers designed and manufactured a chip in about 9 months using mature components, while MediaTek's chip is still in the design stage. For experienced chip design companies, complex chips usually take more than one year to complete the design and test.
In 2016, Microsoft chose Qualcomm as its pioneer to move the Windows operating system to the underlying processor architecture of Arm, which has long supported smartphones. According to a Reuters report last year, Microsoft granted Qualcomm an exclusive agreement to allow it to develop a Windows operating system chip compatible with the Arm architecture, and the agreement expires in 2024.
Due to the expiration of Microsoft's exclusive agreement with Qualcomm, other chip design manufacturers have also joined in to provide assistance for Microsoft's entry into Arm architecture design. For decades, Windows computers have relied on the chip architecture provided by AMD and Intel.
A Reuters report last year said that NVIDIA and AMD are also designing Arm architecture chips for Windows computers. According to a person familiar with the matter, NVIDIA received help from MediaTek. Two sources said that MediaTek's personal computer chip design project is separate from its cooperation with NVIDIA.