AMD is reportedly in discussions to become a customer of Intel’s foundry services, as highlighted in a recent Semafor report. The details around this potential collaboration are sparse, particularly regarding the volume of business that might transition from AMD’s current suppliers, TSMC and GlobalFoundries.
While the report suggests that Intel lacks the technology to manufacture AMD’s advanced chips, that assertion is not entirely accurate. Intel is capable of fabricating chips using the 7nm and 5nm process nodes, which are utilized by AMD for both its CPUs and GPUs.
AMD has not commented on the speculation, and Intel has similarly refrained from making any public statements. Despite potential challenges in their collaboration, the two companies have a historical connection dating back to 2004, when Intel licensed AMD’s x86-64 64-bit extensions, which are still integrated into Intel processors today.
Industry analyst Anshel Sag posits that the partnership could become viable, especially if AMD is expected to manufacture components domestically as part of U.S. defense contracts and supercomputing projects. AMD has excelled in the federal supercomputing segment, securing notable positions with systems like El Capitan and Frontier. Manufacturing its products in the U.S. could alleviate some regulatory pressures, particularly with the ongoing push from the Trump administration for a significant percentage of semiconductor production to occur domestically.
Moreover, the collaboration could also provide AMD with an opportunity to secure local manufacturing capacity and minimize competition with larger players like Nvidia and Apple, who dominate the limited capacity at TSMC. This move aligns with Intel’s news of recent partnerships, including one with Nvidia aimed at co-developing chips for both PCs and data centers. As Intel continues to establish its credibility in the foundry market by attracting customers, this collaboration could aid further domestic investment in semiconductor manufacturing.
Potential outcomes from such a partnership could positively impact both companies and the broader U.S. semiconductor industry.
