The rapid expansion of personal AI agents is revitalizing the market positions of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel, companies that have seen their share of the artificial intelligence landscape diminish over recent years as Nvidia and its graphics processing units (GPUs) took precedence. Historically, central processing units (CPUs) served as the primary engines for computer servers, but the generative AI boom, ignited by ChatGPT, shifted focus toward GPUs. Now, with the emergence of agents capable of sustained autonomous operation, CPUs are regaining importance, benefitting AMD and Intel, whose processors are optimized for these long-running tasks.
OpenAI recently introduced its AI agent, Dots, building on the momentum generated by Meta, which launched its own agent, Muse, in early September. Muse achieved remarkable popularity, climbing to the top of the Apple App Store in under two weeks. This surge in interest has accelerated stock gains for both chipmakers; AMD and Intel have risen 32% and 21%, respectively, year-to-date, with significant momentum in the last month, outperforming other major technology stocks. As of Monday’s close, AMD continued its upward trajectory, jumping nearly 4% to reach a fresh high of $654.82 during mid-day trading, pushing its market capitalization past the trillion-dollar milestone thanks to strength in both CPU and GPU segments.
Experts suggest this trend marks a potential recalibration in hardware demands. “As more agents are created and developed, and more people start to use them for more tasks, it’s going to start to shift the workload away from GPUs and onto CPUs,” stated Ryan Shrout, president of Signal65, an AI hardware and cost consultancy. The connection between these agents and AMD hardware has been visible: Muse users were informed that the service runs on AMD-powered computers, while Dots indicated it operates on virtual computers utilizing AMD’s EPYC-branded CPUs.
Despite these associations, hardware diversity remains a key strategy for major tech firms. A Meta spokesperson emphasized to CNBC that the company employs a “diverse approach” to hardware and is “largely CPU-agnostic by design,” aiming to maximize flexibility in capacity acquisition. OpenAI similarly utilizes multiple CPU providers, indicating that AMD is not the exclusive beneficiary of this trend. While most server infrastructure at major hyperscalers—such as Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft—relies on Intel or AMD CPUs, nearly every leading cloud provider is also developing custom chips, predominantly based on Arm technology. Arm, which unveiled its own agent-focused CPU in March with Meta as its debut customer, has seen its stock price more than double since the announcement.
Finally, GPUs aren’t the only heroes. This CPU revival gives the market much-needed balance and competition.
Intel up 21% year-to-date? I thought they were left for dead. The personal agent shift is truly changing the landscape.
Wait, CPU agnostic? Meta says they use diverse hardware, so don’t bet the farm on AMD being the sole winner here.