Intel has updated its chip roadmap to include an upcoming “14A” node that promises to produce the most cutting-edge computer chips yet.Until today, 18A was the company’s most advanced manufacturing node; it’s slated to start producing chips in the second half of 2024. “Today, we’re announcing Intel 14A for the first time,” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said at an event in San Jose, which comes three years after he assumed the chief executive role. “You can think about this as 1.4 nanometer technology.” The node will also tap a “High NA EUV lithography system” to pack even smaller transistors for a denser chip.
(Credit: Intel)
According to the roadmap, Intel 14A and its variant Intel 14A-E will arrive sometime in or before 2027. The company also plans on filling other parts of the roadmap with manufacturing nodes that improve upon existing technologies. This includes the arrival of Intel 3-E, Intel 3-PT, Intel 3-T, along with Intel 18A-P. Gelsinger said the improvements will involve “adding performance capabilities” and embedding “T-nodes” through Intel’s vertical interconnect access to further streamline the chip designs.
(Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)
Gelsinger is banking on the roadmap sharpening the company’s competitive edge. The upcoming 18A process already has Intel confident it’ll “regain process leadership” next year when rivals such as AMD and Apple have been tapping Taiwan’s TSMC to build PC processors using a 2-nanometer node. Intel also announced the roadmap during an event devoted to promoting the company’s foundry business, which has been trying to compete against TSMC for customers. Back in 2021, Gelsinger announced that Intel would go beyond merely building chips for itself, and expand to producing silicon for any interested companies.
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To lure in customers, Intel plans on making all of the company’s most advanced nodes available for use. Case in point, Gelsinger noted that Microsoft has reached a deal with Intel to produce a chip design using the company’s 18A process. Other customers have also signed up with Intel foundry, resulting in $15 billion in business so far.
(Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)
To set itself apart from TSMC, Intel also says its foundry business plans to become a one-stop shop for the customer’s entire chip needs. This includes developing the semiconductor, the packaging, chip substrate, cooling, memory and interconnect to push the overall chip design to new performance levels. Intel employees “know you don’t need to be in Taiwan to build the world’s most advanced semiconductors,” added Stuart Pann, senior vice president of Intel Foundry.
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