The chip architecture that powers your smartphone is rapidly conquering the data center too.
According to Tom's Hardware, Arm-based servers accounted for over 45% of data center market revenue in the first quarter of 2026 — nearly half of all server revenue, and a direct challenge to x86, the long-dominant architecture from Intel and AMD that has run the world's data centers for decades.
The report attributes this "tectonic shift" to the explosion of GPU clusters and high-end AI infrastructure. As companies race to build out systems for artificial intelligence, the hardware underneath is increasingly being paired with Arm-based processors rather than traditional x86 chips.
There is an important nuance to the milestone. The 45%-plus figure reflects revenue, not the number of machines sold. Per Tom's Hardware, Arm has not yet overtaken x86 on a unit basis — meaning x86 still ships in more servers overall, even as Arm captures a larger slice of the money. The report suggests, however, that Arm could catch up on unit volume as well in the coming years.
Why it matters: For most of the modern computing era, x86 was the default foundation of the internet's back end. Arm reaching near-parity in data center revenue signals that the AI buildout is reshaping not just how much computing the world buys, but the fundamental architecture it runs on — a change with ripple effects for chipmakers, cloud providers, and the economics of AI.