Nvidia, the company that built its empire on graphics processors, is now coming for the CPU market with the kind of ambition that should make Intel and AMD deeply uncomfortable.
The company is projecting roughly $20 billion in standalone CPU revenue for 2026. For context, that’s nearly the size of AMD’s entire annual revenue.
The unbundling strategy
The strategy centers on two chip families. The Grace CPU, which is already shipping, and the upcoming Vera CPU, which is expected to power CPU-only servers starting in 2027. Both are built on Arm architecture, positioning Nvidia as a direct competitor to the x86 incumbents that have dominated data center computing for decades.
A multiyear partnership with Meta is the clearest signal of where this is heading. The deal includes deployment of standalone Grace CPUs and plans for Vera CPU-only servers.
