March 3, San Francisco/Singapore (Reuters) – According to two people familiar with the situation who spoke to Reuters, chip designers Nvidia (NVDA.O) and Broadcom (AVGO.O) are testing their manufacturing processes alongside Intel (INTC.O), showing early faith in the faltering company’s cutting-edge production methods.
The two tests, which have never been made public before, show that the companies are getting closer to deciding whether to award Intel manufacturing contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The choice could result in a boost in revenue and support for Intel’s contract manufacturing division, which has been plagued by setbacks and has yet to reveal a major chip designer client.
Although it was unclear if it had sent test chips through the factory, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), opens a new tab, is also assessing whether Intel’s 18A manufacturing process is appropriate for its needs. AMD chose not to respond.
“We don’t comment on specific customers, but we continue to see strong interest and engagement on Intel 18A across our ecosystem,” an Intel representative stated.
Intel’s 18A process, a set of technologies and procedures created over many years that can produce sophisticated chips and advanced artificial intelligence processors, is being used in the tests conducted by Nvidia and Broadcom. Taiwan’s TSMC, which controls the majority of the world’s chip market, has comparable technology to the 18A process.
Nvidia chose not to respond. A request for comment from Broadcom was not answered.
These tests are being carried out to ascertain the behavior and capabilities of Intel’s 18A process rather than on full chip designs. Before making a complete design in large quantities, chip designers occasionally buy wafers to test particular chip components and iron out any kinks.
Testing is underway and may continue for several months. When the tests began is unknown.
Manufacturing testing, however, does not guarantee that Intel will eventually secure new business. Reuters revealed last year that its engineers and executives were let down by a set of Broadcom tests. Broadcom stated at the time that it was still investigating Intel’s foundry.
The administration of US President Donald Trump, which is eager to reestablish American manufacturing dominance and fight China, has taken notice of Intel’s faltering business. Intel is regarded as the United States’ only chance to produce the most cutting-edge semiconductors domestically.
According to a source familiar with the situation, administration officials met with C.C. Wei, the CEO of Taiwan’s TSMC (2330.TW), opens new tab, in New York earlier this year to discuss acquiring a majority stake in a joint venture in Intel’s factory unit. The prospect of other chip designers acquiring equity stakes in the new business was discussed.
TSMC chose not to respond. Questions concerning the meetings were not answered by Intel.
Although there are few specifics, Intel has stated that it has signed agreements with Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) to produce chips on 18A. In the case of Amazon, Intel did not reveal a specific product or the chip that Microsoft intends to use Intel’s factories for. The amount of manufacturing volume represented by either deal was not made clear.
