Intel poaches lead GPU architect from AMD

a close up shot of a render of an Intel Alchemist GPU
(Image credit: Intel)

Intel has announced that it has secured the services of Rohit Verma, formerly Lead SoC Architect for Discrete GPUs at AMD. Verma is set to become the Lead Product Architect at Intel's Accelerated Computing Group. This is a high profile acquisition for Intel as Verma was a Senior Fellow at AMD.

The news (via Tom's Hardware) comes as Intel is hard at work putting the finishing touches on its 1st generation Arc Alchemist range of graphics cards. Verma won’t have any significant input just yet, but with second, third and fourth generation Arc cards being planned, there’s a need for big brains in order to challenge the dominance of Nvidia and AMD in the GPU and high performance computing markets.

Tips and advice

The Nvidia RTX 3070 and AMD RX 6700 XT side by side on a colourful background

(Image credit: Future)

How to buy a graphics card: tips on buying a graphics card in the barren silicon landscape that is 2022

This isn’t Verma’s first stint at Intel, having previously worked as the Lead SoC Architect from 1999 – 2013.  This happens to coincide with much of CEO Pat Gelsinger’s time at Intel and they are surely well known to each other. It’s likely that Gelsinger himself was involved in reacquiring Verma’s services. No doubt with an open cheque book too!

The news is just the latest in a string of aggressive Intel moves. It’s not just staff acquisitions, but company acquisitions, huge capital investment and a willingness to move outside of Intel’s traditional markets.

There’s the just announced buyout of Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion, investments in production capability, both in the USA and abroad, the plan to open its foundries to 3rd parties and even the possibility of licensing the x86 architecture. Intel really is on a roll and with Pat Gelsinger shaking things up, there’s sure to be further high profile staff acquisitions in the months to come.

Chris Szewczyk
Hardware Writer

Chris' gaming experiences go back to the mid-nineties when he conned his parents into buying an 'educational PC' that was conveniently overpowered to play Doom and Tie Fighter. He developed a love of extreme overclocking that destroyed his savings despite the cheaper hardware on offer via his job at a PC store. To afford more LN2 he began moonlighting as a reviewer for VR-Zone before jumping the fence to work for MSI Australia. Since then, he's gone back to journalism, enthusiastically reviewing the latest and greatest components for PC & Tech Authority, PC Powerplay and currently Australian Personal Computer magazine and PC Gamer. Chris still puts far too many hours into Borderlands 3, always striving to become a more efficient killer.

Read more
Recently appointed Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
Here comes Intel's new CEO: a semiconductor veteran that won the same prestigious award as Jensen Huang and Lisa Su
Intel Gaudi 3
Intel nixes its next-gen AI GPU but still has plans to take on Nvidia
Intel architectural breakdown of new Battlemage GPU designs
Intel is 'confident' about next-gen Arc Celestial GPUs following Battlemage's success
Intel's Raja Koduri holding an A770
Ex-Intel exec, Raja Koduri, blames the bureaucratic 'PowerPoint snakes' within the company for its current issues: 'These processes multiply and coil around engineers'
A chip being held up in an Intel fab
Intel is reportedly 'working to finalize commitments from Nvidia' as a foundry partner, suggesting gaming potential for the 18A node
Intel engineers inspect a lithography machine
Finally some good vibes from Intel as stock jumps 15% on new CEO hire and Arizona fab celebrates 'Eagle has landed' moment for its 18A node
Latest in Graphics Cards
Nvidia App
Hmmm, upgrades: Nvidia App gets an optional AI assistant and custom DLSS resolution scaling
A close-up photo of an Nvidia RTX 4070, with its heatsink removed, showing the AD104 GPU die and the surrounding Micron GDDR6X VRAM chips
With Nvidia Ace taking up 1 GB of VRAM in Inzoi, Team Green will need to up its memory game if AI NPCs take off in PC gaming
A collage of Radeon RX 9000 series graphics cards, as shown in AMD's promotional video for the launch of RDNA 4 at CES 2025
AMD's CEO claims 9070 XT sales are 10x higher than all previous Radeon generations but that's just for the first week of availability
Colorful iGame RTX 5070 Ti Vulcan OC graphics card from various angles
The RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti are rumoured to be mere weeks away, with board partners reportedly required to ensure at least one MSRP model at launch
Nvidia headquarters
Nvidia CEO sets sights on making 'several hundred billion' dollars worth of electronics in the USA over the next four years, increasing the chance of your next GPU being made in America
The Asus ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab Edition, a gold-plated graphics card on a sand dune background
A Jensen Huang-signed version of this golden Asus RTX 5090 will be auctioned off to support relief efforts for the California wildfires
Latest in News
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event