**Intel’s Fabulous Comeback: Gelsinger’s Vision Takes Center Stage**
In the heart of Arizona, Intel’s Fab 52 plant hummed with a new energy this month, as journalists from around the globe gathered for Intel’s annual Tech Tour. The ghost of Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s former CEO, seemed to hover over the scene, but this time, he was likely chuckling in triumph, not despair. Gelsinger, who was ousted by Intel’s board in late 2022, had placed a hefty bet on chip manufacturing through Intel Foundry, investing tens of billions of dollars. His strategy was initially panned, with critics pointing to massive losses and Intel’s missed opportunity in the AI revolution. However, a recent visit to the Arizona plant suggests that Gelsinger’s gamble might just pay off in a big way.
**Panther Lake: The Chip That Could Change Everything**
The first consumer chips to roll off the line at Fab 52 are the new Intel Core Ultra series 3, codenamed Panther Lake. These chips, designed for laptops and lighter-duty PCs, promise to be a game-changer. They’re backed by a slew of new technologies, like backside power delivery and an off-die interconnected GPU, that no one else in the market is using.
Backside power delivery allows power to be delivered from a layer below the transistors, granting more design freedom and potentially improving power efficiency and signal integrity. The new Intel Xe3 GPU architecture, meanwhile, supports multi-frame generation, which, when paired with Intel XeSS upscaling, could turn any thin-and-light ultrabook into a budget gaming laptop.
I had the chance to test a Panther Lake-powered laptop running Painkiller 3, and even without frame generation, the game cleared a 50 fps minimum at 1080p with XeSS set to Quality on the highest graphics settings. With frame generation, the average frame rate soared to around 140 fps, with no perceived latency. There’s no thin-and-light laptop on the market that can match this performance, especially not the MacBook Air, which Panther Lake is specifically targeting.
In terms of non-gaming performance, Intel Lunar Lake chips are already giving the MacBook Air a run for its money. While the MacBook Air still edges out in battery life, the gap is closing. Panther Lake, with its improved performance and energy efficiency, could further narrow this gap, making Windows laptops a more compelling alternative to Macs.
**Gelsinger’s Gamble: A Windfall for Intel?**
Much of Intel’s future rests on the success of its 18A processor fabrication node and the products produced on this node, including Panther Lake, Intel Nova Lake (Intel’s next-gen desktop processors), and Intel Clearwater Forest (Intel’s new Xeon 6+ datacenter chips). However, Intel’s success isn’t dependent on these chips outselling the competition. Instead, it hinges on whether these chips convince AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and even Apple to manufacture their chips on Intel’s nodes rather than TSMC’s or Samsung’s.
Gelsinger’s bet that Intel could manufacture chips as advanced as TSMC’s in the US cost him his job. However, touring Fab 52 was revelatory. The plant was already humming with production, and customers are already spending money to fab their chips on Intel 18A. The technology involved in etching the image of the processors is so advanced that it’s been compared to a person standing on the Moon with a laser pointer and hitting the tip of someone’s outstretched finger at sea level on Earth.
The key to making money during a gold rush is to be the one selling the shovels. Intel, with its 18A node, could be in a position to do just that. Nvidia, for instance, doesn’t make its own chips but relies on foundries like TSMC. With Intel’s 18A node, it could have a new, reliable, and US-based option for chip production.
**The AI Bubble and Intel’s Future**
The AI bubble will pop one day, but advanced semiconductors aren’t going to be in less demand after that. There will always be customers, from government agencies to big businesses, who need the fastest chips possible. The current AI bubble could serve as the on-ramp to sustainability that Intel Foundry needs right now.
Moreover, if Intel has indeed created the most advanced process node technology in the world, it will draw in business on its own. The question now is whether Apple, AMD, and Nvidia will take a chance on Intel 18A.
Given the geopolitical uncertainties surrounding TSMC and Samsung, it would be business malpractice not to hedge that risk by contracting with Intel as well. Both AMD and Apple are reportedly in talks with Intel about fabbing their chips on 18A. While it might be a bitter pill for them to swallow, given their rivalry with Intel, they will likely contract with Intel in the end.
**Gelsinger’s Legacy**
It’s not often that I sing the praises of wealthy industrialists, but Gelsinger deserves credit for his vision. Instead of spending billions on stock buybacks to please Wall Street, he invested in Intel Foundry, knowing that the return would only come after several years. His bet on Intel’s future could now pay massive dividends for the company.
I hope Gelsinger is enjoying himself, watching his critics being proven wrong. His gamble might just be Intel’s windfall, and the tech industry’s gain.
