Intel Wins Major Contract with Microsoft for 18A Process; Google, NVIDIA, and Others Set to Follow

So, Intel Foundry. Okay, they might have stumbled upon their “iPhone moment” with this 18A process thing. Apparently, tech giants are buzzing around like bees to honey. Weird analogy? Maybe, but it fits.

Everyone’s Looking at Intel’s 18A—Why Now?

Intel’s been, like, really missing the spotlight. Financial issues or whatever, but mainly because TSMC’s been hogging all the attention, especially since hooking up with the US—blame Trump, I guess. Anyway, with TSMC’s facilities on US soil, folks are eyeing them over in Taiwan. Intel’s trying to steal the show back, and their ticket is the 18A node. Some Korean news site, ChosunBiz or something, says Intel’s chatting up NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Google about it—like trying to entice them away from TSMC’s N2 node.

They were flaunting this node at Direct Connect 2025, calling it America’s next big thing in chip-making. It’s supposed to rival TSMC’s N2 in terms of performance and efficiency. Sounds impressive, right? They’re even saying it trumps their own Intel 3 node. Team Blue’s made a “wonder” here, whatever that means, and the big tech guys are clearly curious.

So, here’s a pic… dunno, does it help? Whatever.

There’s a shake-up upstairs at Intel—new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan. I mean, with him in charge, they’re pushing hard on things like semiconductor design, packaging, and the whole foundry business. It’s like ditching this “IDM 2.0” thing could put Intel back on top, especially with their CPUs.

Oh, and TSMC’s got more on their plate than they can handle, so other companies are shopping around for alternatives. Intel’s poised to counter TSMC’s 2nm node, though Samsung’s still trying to get their foot in the door.

So yeah, maybe Intel’s found their groove? Or maybe it’s all just hype. Who knows.