Intel attracts interest for test chips using new manufacturing process

Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis

Tue, Apr 29, 2025, 9:03 AM 2 min read

By Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis

SAN JOSE (Reuters) -Intel said connected Tuesday respective of its declaration manufacturing customers planned to physique trial chips for the company's forthcoming precocious manufacturing process that is presently inactive successful development.

The embattled chipmaker indicated it had received involvement from customers astatine the company's Direct Connect league for its declaration spot business, oregon foundry. Intel's effort to physique a foundry portion has deed snags but yet the extremity has been to rival TSMC.

Upon taking the CEO occupation successful March, Lip-Bu Tan vowed to reshape Intel and astatine his archetypal nationalist remarks asked the company's customers to beryllium "brutally honest" erstwhile delivering feedback. As portion of his plans to remake Intel, Tan plans to revamp the company's foundry operation.

The still-in-development manufacturing process known arsenic 14A had planned to present a caller benignant of precocious chipmaking instrumentality known arsenic a high-NA EUV machine. The 14A process besides includes a caller exertion for powerfulness delivery.

Intel besides said connected Tuesday the institution had distributed an aboriginal mentation of the integer plan kit that is indispensable to guarantee Intel tin successfully alteration a spot blueprint into a moving portion of silicon.

Typically spot companies physique trial chips to measure a caller manufacturing process up of committing to a implicit design, which is acold much costly and risky. Broadcom and Nvidia person tally tests for Intel's existent precocious manufacturing process known arsenic 18A, Reuters reported successful March.

Intel reiterated it was readying to ramp up the 18A process to high-volume accumulation this year. It plans to initially manufacture chips with 18A astatine its probe and improvement laboratory adjacent Hillsboro, Oregon. The company's factories successful Arizona volition ramp up accumulation this year, Intel said.

(Reporting by Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis successful San Francisco; Editing by Chris Reese)