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Intel & AMD have a patent cross-licensing agreement. The x86-64 instruction set was designed and first implemented by AMD.

AMD and Intel have agreements (mainly due to x64).

AMD has a (non-transferable!) license to do so.

I wonder if this kept AMD alive during the hard times.

x86 isn't going away for the next 10 years or longer.

Yup, Intel literally needs a competitor to keep out of hot-water with regards to anti-trust laws.