Intel's former CEO Pat Gelsinger has expressed his views on Team Blue's Panther Lake and 18A achievements, claiming that such milestones need to be consistent now.
Intel's ex-CEO Pat Gelsinger Says That U.S. Government Plays a Critical Role In Bringing Foundry Customers
Well, Team Blue has managed to disrupt the consumer industry with its announcements at the CES showcase, most specifically with the Panther Lake chips, which are the first to be based on the 18A process. Nailing the release was one of the most significant objectives for Intel, considering that the company needs to take fabless companies like NVIDIA into confidence, and with Panther Lake, it is clear that the foundry division is in the right direction. Talking with Fox Business, Pat Gelsinger expressed that 18A and Panther Lake are huge milestones, ones whose foundation was laid by him:
Well, first I'd say congratulations to the Intel team, getting 18A done, getting Panther Lake, the new chip that they announced, I worked hard on those.
- Pat Gelsinger
The core technologies and development behind 18A were initiated under Pat Gelsinger, and it is claimed that PowerVia and RibbonFET were Gelsinger's way of driving power efficiency of the 18A node. Gelsinger himself delivered Panther Lake samples to Lenovo, just as he was exiting the office, which means that Panther Lake became a refined product under his leadership. However, before he could bring these technologies to the mainstream market, the former CEO left the office due to pressure from shareholders and board members.
Gelsinger was asked about how he would bring in customers' commitments to Intel Foundry, given that, despite optimistic progress around 18A, there are no deals in place. He claimed that the biggest catalyst would be U.S. government policies, not just in the form of incentives like the CHIPS Act, but also through tariffs, which would eventually convince fabless firms like NVIDIA and AMD to look towards Intel Foundry as an alternative to TSMC. Semiconductor tariffs have been a subject of extensive debate, and one of the reasons why TSMC has invested billions in the US.
You know, I'd be driving that hard.
Obviously the relationship with the U.S. government is critical in that capacity. Obviously I view the government policies here, right? You know, it's not just chips, but it's also tariff policy. t's also reshoring the supply chains to go with it. All of these things. This is hard.
It took decades for them to move away. It will take a while to get them back in the U.S. This week was a great milestone at CES, but a lot more work needs to happen. And to me, every day you are selling those capabilities to bring foundry and wafers back to the United States.
- Pat Gelsinger
The next major milestone for Intel Foundry would be securing customers for frontend and backend semiconductors, and in particular, 18A-P and 14A processes would prove to be a critical factor in bringing external adoption. Intel's CEO Lip-Bu Tan has expressed confidence in the progress on 14A, and by the looks of it, Team Blue appears to be confident in the future of the foundry and product divisions.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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