Intel's new CEO requests "brutal honesty" from partners in his first keynote speech — Determined to build a "world-class" foundry

Intel has recently made a change in leadership, with Lip-Bu Tan being named as the new CEO. One of his initial actions was delivering the opening keynote address at an exclusive Intel Vision 2025 gathering, which concentrates on business-oriented audiences.

In essence, Tan articulated a comprehensive plan for the company and expressed concern that Intel may have let go of some skilled personnel in the past. Now, his aim is to foster open communication by inviting constructive criticism from our clients and rebuild any damaged trust.

The incoming CEO aims to invigorate Intel Foundry’s advancements in chip production using an influx of internal engineering expertise, adopting a strategy of “under-promise and over-deliver.” This approach reflects his personal mantra as he believes the company has been somewhat sluggish in adjusting to customer requirements.

In line with Lip-Bu Tan’s strategic vision for Intel, the objective is to rebuild a world-class foundry. This was recently emphasized as Intel’s Senior Vice President of Foundry Services, Kevin O’Buckley, announced that the Intel 18A process node has entered “manufacturing risk production.”

This means that while the production process still carries some level of risk due to its novelty, it is moving forward with the aim of eventual large-scale manufacturing. The goal here is to establish Intel as a major player in the foundry industry on a global scale.

Refining Intel 18A in risk production

The progression of Intel’s “five nodes in four years” (5N4Y) strategy proceeds after the completion of the Intel 20A (2nm) “Meteor Lake” chips, which are currently under development at the Intel 18A (1.8Nm) stage. Originally designed for the TSMC-partnered “Lunar Lake,” it will subsequently advance to its next phase, the Intel 14A (1.4Nm) node.

After finishing work on the “Meteor Lake” chips at the 2nm stage (Intel 20A), Intel’s plan to develop five new chip nodes in four years continues. The current development phase is at the 1.8nm stage (Intel 18A), which was initially designed for a project called “Lunar Lake.” Following this, Intel will move on to the next stage, which is the 1.4nm node (Intel 14A).

Intel’s timeline indicates that they aim to deliver their upcoming “Panther Lake” mobile processors using the Intel 18A technology in the year 2026. However, the actual manufacturing process for these chips is scheduled for the latter half of 2025.

Moreover, during Intel’s Vision 2025 event, they briefly touched upon their Arc discrete graphics, but failed to provide fresh insights on the “Battlemage” B-Series or “Celestial” C-series cards. However, Tan expressed a desire for Intel to further bolster its offerings, so we’ll have to wait and see. As an enthusiast of Intel Arc, I can only hope for a broader selection of desktop GPUs that can leverage the latest Intel XeSS 2 technology upgrade.

2025-04-02 18:39

Intel’s new CEO requests “brutal honesty” from partners in his first keynote speech — Determined to build a “world-class” foundry

Refining Intel 18A in risk production

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