Justin Sullivan
Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) newly separated programmable chip unit could be enhanced by artificial intelligence, its Chief Executive told Reuters.
"(Programmable chips are) always at the forefront of that innovation cycle and that's our job to stay at the forefront," the unit's CEO, Sandra Rivera, told the news outlet. "To make it easy to drive these transitions."
Intel shares rose 1.8% in mid-day trading on Thursday, while competitors AMD (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) rose 6.5% and 1.8%, respectively.
AMD has its own field programmable gate array unit via its Xilinx acquisition, which closed in 2022.
Intel laid out the future for the programmable unit, now known as "Altera, an Intel company," on Thursday. In October, Intel announced it would separate its Programmable Solutions Group into a standalone operation, effective Jan. 1 in an effort to continue to simplify its larger business.
Rivera said the market for programmable chips is "larger than people realize," adding that there are a lot of programmable chips being used in the "AI workflow."
The field programmable gate array was expected to grow at roughly 9% per year from roughly $8B in 2023 to approximately $11.5B by 2027, Intel said at the time of the separation announcement, citing third-party estimates.
Intel is likely to spin off Altera over the next few years as it did with Mobileye (MBLY) in 2022.