NVIDIA Witnessed Massive Troubles from Intel During the Mid-2000s, in the Form of Licensing Unfairness and Lawsuits

During the mid-2000s, Intel stood as the undisputed leader of the computing industry, dominating both consumer and enterprise segments. At that time, NVIDIA was still a relatively smaller player, though rapidly emerging as a disruptive force through its advancements in graphics and chipset design. This growing success reportedly did not sit well with Intel, leading to a tense relationship marked by licensing disputes and lawsuits.

In a recent interview with Jim Cramer, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang revisited that difficult chapter while reflecting on how Intel once attempted to suppress NVIDIA’s progress.

Cramer recalled conversations with the late Andy Grove, Intel’s legendary former CEO, who had a reputation for his fierce and unapologetic leadership style. During their discussion, Cramer mentioned Grove’s dismissive attitude toward partnerships with firms like NVIDIA. Jensen responded candidly, saying:

“It’s not the way, it’s the way that he had himself set himself up, frankly. Intel dedicated 33 years of our lives trying to kill us.”

While the comment was partly humorous, Huang’s words shed light on the strained dynamic between the two companies at the time. In the 2000s, NVIDIA was producing chipsets for Intel CPUs under a licensing agreement, but as Intel moved toward internal chipset development, tensions grew. This culminated in a major legal dispute over license interpretation and intellectual property rights.

The conflict eventually ended in 2011 when Intel agreed to pay NVIDIA $1.5 billion in technology licensing fees, formalized in a settlement that allowed both companies to continue using each other’s technologies under specific terms. Details of that historic settlement can be found on NVIDIA’s official newsroom. The period marked a defining moment for NVIDIA, forcing it to diversify beyond chipsets and double down on graphics and accelerated computing, decisions that would eventually lead to the company’s dominant position in AI and GPU computing today.

Despite the bitter rivalry of the past, Jensen Huang now expresses optimism about the companies’ renewed collaboration. He praised Intel’s current leadership, particularly CEO Lip-Bu Tan, for fostering a more cooperative environment between the two tech giants. The partnership, Huang emphasized, is mutually beneficial: NVIDIA gains access to Intel’s expansive consumer and server markets, while Intel benefits from integrating its x86 CPU technology into NVIDIA’s rack-scale AI systems, expanding its data center presence.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Huang said, noting that the collaboration represents how much the industry and both companies have evolved.

What began as a relationship of competition and conflict has now shifted toward strategic cooperation. Decades after Intel once “tried to kill” NVIDIA, the latter’s success has transformed it into a cornerstone of modern computing, with its partnerships now capable of boosting the valuation of its collaborators.

In Huang’s own words, history has a way of teaching lessons — and for Intel, that lesson came in the form of humility. NVIDIA, once the underdog, is now a market leader shaping the future of AI, GPUs, and computing architecture.

What do you think about the evolution of NVIDIA and Intel’s relationship? Can these two long-time rivals truly sustain a partnership in the AI era?