[xorx]

Exactly. It would be a bit of a gamble, as it may undercut their x86 lines, but as a hedge against the success of ARM/M[1,2,...], they may do themselves a favor to attempt a project to implement RISC-V.

They don't have much to lose, as AMD is already killing their x86 lines anyway.

[phkahler]

I've been hoping Intel or AMD would try RISC-V. If the ISA is inherently more efficient (not saying it is) they should be able to prove it by having already optimized so much core and cache hardware.

[unanswered]

And do what, shoot both x86 feet they're standing on? If they wanted to optimize technical/engineering success, it's absolutely the best move. But to optimize shareholder value or anything like it, it's impossible.