Intel Weighs-In On AMD Split

Author	Hugo Jobling
Published	8th Oct 2008

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It was inevitable that Intel would have something to say about AMD split and lo and behold it does. Apparently Intel has "serious questions" to ask about newly-founded The Foundry Company, specifically in reference to a cross-licensing agreement of Intel has with AMD.

Speaking to Reuters, Intel's Chuck Mulloy commented that "Intel has serious questions about this transaction as it relates to the license and will vigorously protect Intel's intellectual property rights." AMD's agreement with Intel (which apparently covers AMD's use of the x86 instruction set) restricts AMD from transferring any of Intel's intellectual property to any third party. That could become more of an issue as greater amounts of AMD stock get eaten up by external companies.

More fundamentally, the agreement between AMD and Intel apparently also includes a limitation on the amount of manufacturing AMD is allowed to outsource - apparently a maximum on 20 per cent. As AMD is now a fab-less company, that could pose a problem. Intel will have to be careful itself, though, as pushing AMD out of the CPU market would turn Intel into a monopoly, and nobody wants that. Except maybe Intel.

Link:
Reuters.