Intel, TSMC Tentatively Agree To Form Chipmaking Joint Venture 11
Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. have reached a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture operating Intel's chipmaking facilities, with TSMC taking a 20% stake, The Information reports [non-paywalled source]. Intel and other U.S. semiconductor companies would hold the majority of shares in the proposed venture. Instead of capital investment, TSMC has discussed sharing chipmaking methods and training Intel personnel.
The talks face internal opposition from some Intel executives concerned about widespread layoffs and the abandonment of Intel's own technology, according to the report. The deal could help TSMC neutralize a struggling competitor while potentially giving Taiwan more leverage with the U.S. administration, which recently imposed tariffs on Taiwanese goods excluding chips.
The talks face internal opposition from some Intel executives concerned about widespread layoffs and the abandonment of Intel's own technology, according to the report. The deal could help TSMC neutralize a struggling competitor while potentially giving Taiwan more leverage with the U.S. administration, which recently imposed tariffs on Taiwanese goods excluding chips.
Serious question (Score:3)
I get the layoff concerns. But it seems to me TSMC's current tech runs circles around Intel's. Does Intel actually have some (apparently well-hidden) superior tech of some sort?
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Intel got low-NA EUV tools before TSMC too. That didn't stop TSMC from leapfrogging Intel with EUV adoption. They've decided to do the same for high-NA: delay high-NA adoption a bit (waiting for it to mature) by adopting multi-pattern low-NA in the interim. They expect that, even with multi-pattern low-NA's lower throughput, it will still be cheaper than high-NA, and high-NA also can't do large dies like the kind that Apple and nVidia make.
Node names are meaningless (18A, 14A, 10A, it's just marketing label
Taiwan is in mortal danger (Score:3)
The presence in Taiwan of the only factory in the world capable of making the leading-edge performance chips today (smallest process fabs) is probably a key reason why:
a) China doesn't draw up immediate invasion plans. - China is independently working on replicating TSMC but apparently it will take like a decade, so they themselves are still somewhat dependent on TSMC remaining existing in a viable Taiwan. Plus China knows that the rest of the world would be really monumentally pissed by the loss of the best chips for a full decade or so during a messy invasion.
b) The USA despite Mr. T.'s recent denials, probably still sees Taiwan as an essential ally, critical to US and the world's leading-tech economy.
It is hard to overstate how big a moat TSMC has. They invested many many billions and more than 20 years evolving and constantly innovating to be the only place capable of fabricating the best chips.
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And separate from that there's still the competition side. i love TSMC, but even if they operate stuff in the US it's not great to have a global monopoly on a critical industry.
I'd much rather see Intel continue to struggle and bite at their heels than be absorbed if it's at all possible. I'm not a semi-conductor industry expert but AMD struggled through for years and years of being inferior by most measures (especially peak performance and power ) in various sectors. And while i understand this chip pl
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You weren't kidding, Best Buy is selling a gaming rig with a 3060Ti in it. I only bought mine (a regular non-Ti 3060) because I valued the extra VRAM over the speed of a 3070. I know it was mostly luck, but the advantage of 12 GB over 8 GB remains significant in AI applications and that's mostly how I use it. That Best Buy box is going to need a boatload more RAM if it's going to double as a low-budget AI rig, I've upgraded to 48 GB and it's barely enough for DeepSeek-R1:70b.
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Please don't compare Doctor Smallglove to the real Mr. T.
At least Mr. T would pity the fool.
Quick! We need a new marketing slogan! (Score:3)
Re: Quick! We need a new marketing slogan! (Score:1)
That's the power of inside intel. (Score:2)
It's just a little word swapping, and using intel in its ordinary sense: "That's the power of inside intel."