Intel is dabbling in the customization of its x86 processors for specific large-scale customers in the server market. The effort is a strategy to expand its dominance and increase competition vs ARM. ... Intel's answer to ARM: Customisable x86 chips with HIDDEN POWERS
Seems a lot like AMD's recent plan. The only difference is I feel like intel won't do as good of a job, because companies will request something from them and they're either going to charge an unreasonable price or they're going to argue with requests and do things their own way. AMD isn't in a position to do either of those things - if someone requests something of them, they'll do it as long as they know it is profitable.
Sounds like both AMD and Intel are copying what IBM has done for years with their PowerPC architecture. Customize it for their large enterprise customers. While it's new that they're doing it. It's not a new concept. deltatux