Nvidia and Intel's $5B plot twist

PLUS: Hinge CEO says AI will kill the swipe

AuthorAuthor

Jennifer Mossalgue & Rowan Cheung
September 19, 2025

Good morning, tech enthusiasts. Nvidia just blindsided the chip world with a $5B investment in longtime rival Intel, teaming up to forge the next generation of chips.

The move sent Intel’s stock rocketing 25%, while AMD got hammered. What happens when Silicon Valley’s AI king joins Uncle Sam to resurrect the fallen giant of computing?

In today’s tech rundown:

  • Nvidia backs Intel with $5B lifeline

  • Hinge CEO says AI will kill the swipe

  • Snap upgrades AR glasses for Meta showdown

  • Waymo offers robotaxis for public transit

  • Quick hits on other major tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

NVIDIA/INTEL

Image source: Nvidia

The Rundown: Silicon Valley has a new power couple: Nvidia is investing a massive $5B in longtime rival Intel, acquiring a 4% stake and launching a joint chip development plan that targets both AI data centers and gaming PCs.

The details:

  • Intel's stock jumped 25% after the news, coming just weeks after the U.S. government’s own 10% bailout stake in the struggling chipmaker.

  • AMD took the hit as investors realized two industry titans were teaming up against them, sending shares tumbling.

  • The partnership targets custom x86 processors with integrated Nvidia NVLink for data centers, promising faster chip-to-chip communication.

  • For PCs, the companies will collaborate on x86 system-on-chips featuring Nvidia RTX GPU chiplets, aiming to challenge AMD in the gaming segment.

Why it matters: This alliance could kill AMD's hot streak by fusing Intel's x86 legacy with Nvidia's AI dominance, potentially freezing competitors out of next-gen server and gaming markets. It also looks like government backing plus private billions is becoming the U.S.’s playbook for beating China in semiconductors.

HINGE

Image source: Hinge

The Rundown: Justin McLeod, the CEO of dating app Hinge, told Business Insider that he predicts AI will make mass swiping on dating apps obsolete within three to five years, calling the current process “arcane.”

The details:

  • McLeod likens today’s dating app interactions to “Morse code,” saying users struggle to communicate real preferences and intentions.

  • Apps harvest billions of swipes, he said, but remain blind to the “why” behind each decision, leaving personalization algorithms fundamentally broken.

  • The CEO envisions users articulating who they are and what matters to them, enabling AI to deliver deeply compatible matches.

  • McLeod explicitly rejects “artificial intimacy” — no dating chatbots or digital companions, just better human-to-human matching powered by AI.

Why it matters: While Meta’s Zuckerberg champions AI chatbots as legitimate friends, Hinge positions itself as the anti-artificial intimacy platform. The stakes are enormous in a dating market worth over $8B globally. Tinder and Bumble built empires on dopamine-driven swiping, but they're vulnerable if McLeod's prediction proves correct.

SNAP

Image source: Snap

The Rundown: Snap is rolling out Snap OS 2.0 on its Spectacles AR glasses, delivering an overhauled browser, upgraded multitasking, and creative AR features as the company scrambles to keep pace with Meta’s push into mixed reality.

The details:

  • The browser overhaul brings faster load times, reduced energy consumption, and support for voice-typed URLs and window resizing to its AR glasses.

  • Users can now juggle multiple AR applications simultaneously, moving closer to the “spatial computing” vision that Apple and Meta are chasing.

  • Enhanced filters and effects designed to differentiate Spectacles from competitors’ productivity-first approaches.

  • Public launch of consumer-friendly Snap Spectacles is expected in 2026, with lighter frames and more capabilities than previous developer-only hardware.

Why it matters: Snap’s bet to leapfrog Meta’s smart-to-AR glasses evolution is by launching standalone AR in 2026, a year before Meta’s Project Orion. While Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have nailed style, Snap’s challenge is cramming true AR computing into lightweight frames without the tech-nerd stigma that killed Google Glass.

WAYMO

Image source: Waymo

The Rundown: Waymo is moving beyond traditional robotaxi turf by partnering with tech transit startup Via to weave its autonomous vehicles directly into city-run public transit, starting with Chandler, Arizona, a rapidly growing Phoenix suburb.

The details:

  • This marks the first time in the U.S. that robotaxis have become official public transit, not just private ride-hail options competing with buses and trains.

  • Rides cost just $2 through Chandler’s Flex app, with dollar fares for seniors and disabled riders and free rides for students, undercutting Uber and Lyft.

  • Via’s demand-prediction software handles routing and passenger matching, while Waymo provides the driverless hardware.

  • The rides integrate seamlessly with Valley Metro's broader network, creating first-mile/last-mile solutions that complement existing transit.

Why it matters: This flips the entire autonomous vehicle business model from premium personal transportation to subsidized public service. Instead of competing with transit systems, Waymo is becoming the transit system, potentially solving the “last mile” problem that keeps suburban Americans car-dependent.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

Apple is in talks with Taiwanese suppliers to establish a test production hub for its rumored foldable iPhone, according to Nikkei Asia.

Microsoft is investing $4B in a second Wisconsin data center, with its first — housing hundreds of thousands of Nvidia chips — opening early 2026.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple’s cheaper MacBook could get a touchscreen by 2027, but the OLED MacBook Pro will lead the way next year.

YouTube says it has paid out over $100B to creators since 2021, with the number of channels earning more than $100K from TV viewers soaring 45% year over year.

Strava, a fitness tracking platform valued at $2.2B, is reportedly lining up major investment banks to pitch for its confidential U.S. IPO plans.

Uber will begin testing drone-powered Uber Eats deliveries in select U.S. markets this year through a partnership and small investment with Israeli startup Flytrex.

Rivian has officially broken ground on its massive Georgia factory outside Atlanta, which could eventually produce up to 400K electric vehicles a year.

Bumble has relaunched its BFF app, built atop the Geneva platform it acquired last year, to help users connect in groups.

Tesla is redesigning its door handles to make it easier for occupants to escape in emergencies after multiple reports of people being trapped inside its cars.

Jack Altman, co-founder of Lattice and brother to OpenAI’s Sam Altman, raised a second fund totaling $275M for his solo venture firm Alt Capital in just one week.

COMMUNITY

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Rowan, Jennifer, and Joey—The Rundown’s editorial team

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