Latest news with #LipBu-Tan
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Intel, AMD former executives throw the hat into AI semiconductor ring
About a dozen executives from semiconductor and chip design companies such as Intel, AMD and Texas Instruments have quit to establish AI chip startups in India to tap into the multibillion-dollar from Texas Instruments have started C2i Semiconductors, which is developing products to reduce energy consumption by semiconductors. They have raised $4 million from Yali Capital and Intel CEO Lip Bu-Tan, according to Computing, which was acquired by Krutrim, was started by two Intel veterans, Sambit Sahu and Raghuraman Barathalwar. They are currently heading Krutrim's semiconductor initiatives, which ET had reported earlier. Four former Intel and AMD executives have set up Agrani Labs and are developing indigenous AI chips in Bengaluru. They are in talks to raise $8 million from Peak XV Partners, according to people familiar with the development. Most of these executives have spent 15-20 years in the semiconductor industry. India's semiconductor ecosystem is evolving rapidly through a combination of government initiatives such as design-linked incentives, experts said. Apart from this, the country is becoming a key centre for chip design and development and concentrated efforts are being made to set up semiconductor hubs. Global semiconductor sales are on track to reach $1 trillion by 2030 from $627 billion in 2024, according to a Deloitte report, driven by the demand for generative AI and other chips, including those for CPUs, GPUs, memory and power. In addition to this, semiconductor startups — even those that do not cater to the AI space — have seen investor interest in the past year. These include Mindgrove Technologies, InCore and Agnit Semiconductors. Agrani Labs is developing AI chips for the global market and is currently in stealth mode, according to people aware of the matter. Agrani Labs and Peak XV Partners didn't respond to queries. C2i Semiconductors, which is also in stealth mode, recently received the first part of funding from the government's design-linked incentive programme, the company announced on LinkedIn. Krutrim had earlier announced that the company is developing the Bodhi 1 chip, focused on advanced AI models, which is expected to hit the market in 2026. Bodhi 2, focused on training and inferencing, is scheduled for release by 2028. Others that have received funding recently include InCore, which raised $3 million from Peak XV. Mindgrove Technologies raised $8 million from Peak XV and others. Agnit Semiconductors has raised $4.87 million from 3one4 Capital and others. The Covid pandemic showed that India needed to develop its own supply chain, said Ganapathy Subramaniam, managing partner, Yali Capital, and former Texas Instruments executive. In the last few years, the government has drawn up several initiatives to develop the ecosystem. Over the past four decades, the country has produced chip designers for Texas Instruments, Intel and AMD, Subramaniam said. 'India is the second-largest centre for chip design for companies in the US, South Korea and Japan, creating a huge talent pool in the country,' he said. Challenges Scaling up semiconductors is still a challenge, said Tarun Pathak, research director, Counterpoint Research. 'India is still dependent on imports for many essential inputs, particularly from China, which holds cost and volume advantages due to its mature manufacturing and efficient supply chains,' he said. 'Matching the scale while keeping the costs down will be a challenge.' In addition, while government policies help, global original equipment manufacturers have established supply networks and the shift will take time, he said.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Intel, AMD former executives throw the hat into AI semiconductor ring
About a dozen executives from semiconductor and chip design companies such as Intel, AMD and Texas Instruments have quit to establish AI chip startups in India to tap into the multibillion-dollar industry. Four from Texas Instruments have started C2i Semiconductors, which is developing products to reduce energy consumption by semiconductors. They have raised $4 million from Yali Capital and Intel CEO Lip Bu-Tan, according to Tracxn. Bodhi Computing, which was acquired by Krutrim, was started by two Intel veterans, Sambit Sahu and Raghuraman Barathalwar. They are currently heading Krutrim's semiconductor initiatives, which ET had reported earlier. Four former Intel and AMD executives have set up Agrani Labs and are developing indigenous AI chips in Bengaluru. They are in talks to raise $8 million from Peak XV Partners, according to people familiar with the development. Most of these executives have spent 15-20 years in the semiconductor industry. India's semiconductor ecosystem is evolving rapidly through a combination of government initiatives such as design-linked incentives, experts said. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Apart from this, the country is becoming a key centre for chip design and development and concentrated efforts are being made to set up semiconductor hubs. Global semiconductor sales are on track to reach $1 trillion by 2030 from $627 billion in 2024, according to a Deloitte report, driven by the demand for generative AI and other chips, including those for CPUs, GPUs, memory and power. In addition to this, semiconductor startups — even those that do not cater to the AI space — have seen investor interest in the past year. These include Mindgrove Technologies, InCore and Agnit Semiconductors. Agrani Labs is developing AI chips for the global market and is currently in stealth mode, according to people aware of the matter. Agrani Labs and Peak XV Partners didn't respond to queries. C2i Semiconductors, which is also in stealth mode, recently received the first part of funding from the government's design-linked incentive programme, the company announced on LinkedIn. Krutrim had earlier announced that the company is developing the Bodhi 1 chip, focused on advanced AI models, which is expected to hit the market in 2026. Bodhi 2, focused on training and inferencing, is scheduled for release by 2028. Also Read: Krutrim to launch first AI chip in 2026: Bhavish Aggarwal Others that have received funding recently include InCore, which raised $3 million from Peak XV. Mindgrove Technologies raised $8 million from Peak XV and others. Agnit Semiconductors has raised $4.87 million from 3one4 Capital and others. The Covid pandemic showed that India needed to develop its own supply chain, said Ganapathy Subramaniam, managing partner, Yali Capital, and former Texas Instruments executive. In the last few years, the government has drawn up several initiatives to develop the ecosystem. Over the past four decades, the country has produced chip designers for Texas Instruments, Intel and AMD, Subramaniam said. 'India is the second-largest centre for chip design for companies in the US, South Korea and Japan, creating a huge talent pool in the country,' he said. Challenges Scaling up semiconductors is still a challenge, said Tarun Pathak, research director, Counterpoint Research. 'India is still dependent on imports for many essential inputs, particularly from China, which holds cost and volume advantages due to its mature manufacturing and efficient supply chains,' he said. 'Matching the scale while keeping the costs down will be a challenge.' In addition, while government policies help, global original equipment manufacturers have established supply networks and the shift will take time, he said.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Intel Foundry Roadmap Update - New 18A-PT variant that enables 3D die stacking, 14A process node enablement
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Intel's new CEO Lip Bu-Tan took to the stage at the company's Intel Foundry Direct 2025 event here in San Jose, California, to outline the company's progress on its foundry initiative. Tan announced that the company is now engaging lead customers for its upcoming 14A process node (1.4nm equivalent), the follow-on generation of its 18A process node. Intel already has several customers with plans to tape out 14A test chips, which now come with an enhanced version of the company's backside power delivery technology dubbed PowerDirect. Tan also revealed that the company's crucial 18A node is now in risk production with volume manufacturing on schedule for later this year. Intel also revealed that its new 18A-P extension, a high-performance variant of the 18A node, is now running through the fab with early wafers. Additionally, the company is developing a new 18A-PT variant that supports Foveros Direct 3D with hybrid bonding interconnects, enabling the company to stack dies vertically on top of its most advanced leading-edge node. The Foveros Direct 3D technology is a key development because it provides a capability that rival TSMC already uses in production, most famously in AMD's 3D V-Cache products. In fact, Intel's implementation matches TSMC's offering in critical interconnect density measurements. On the mature-node side of the operation, Intel Foundry has its first production 16nm tapeout in the fab now, and the company is also now engaging customers for the 12nm node it is developing in partnership with UMC. Perhaps the most important developments at the show revolve around Intel's continued expansion with EDA and intellectual property (IP) partners that provide the critical tools and IP blocks that enable its customers to develop new designs with industry-standard design flows and tools. The company has also expanded its Intel Foundry Accelerator Alliance program to include the Chiplet Alliance and Value Chain Alliance programs. Intel Foundry's progress comes during turbulent times in the semiconductor industry as geopolitical divisions threaten to fracture the global chip supply chain. Intel is currently the only US-based domestic supplier of leading-edge process node technology and advanced packaging capacity, a key advantage as tensions between China and TSMC continue to escalate. Despite TSMC's expansion of production in the US, a recent law passed by Taiwan now prevents the company from producing its most cutting-edge tech in the United States, leaving Intel as the only domestic foundry with both leading-edge chip production and R&D. Naga Chandrasekaran, the Chief Technology and Operations Officer of Intel Foundry, and Kevin O'Buckley, the General Manager of Foundry Services, are also slated to deliver keynotes during the event, providing more details about the technology and roadmaps. We will update this article with additional information as it becomes available, but we have plenty to share to get started. Let's take a closer look at Intel's progress. Intel's 14A, the next generation after 18A, is already in the works and scheduled for risk production in 2027. If all goes to plan, 14A will be the industry's first node to employ High-NA EUV lithography. TSMC's competing A14 (1.4nm-class) node is expected to arrive in 2028, but the Taiwanese company will not utilize High-NA for production. Intel has already shared early versions of the Process Design Kit (PDK), a set of data, documentation, and design rules that enables the design and validation of a processor design, with its lead 14A customers. Intel states that multiple customers have already indicated their intention to build chips using the 14A process node. Intel's 14A will have a second-generation version of its PowerVia backside power delivery technology. The new PowerDirect implementation is a more advanced and complex scheme that delivers power directly to each transistor's source and drain through specialized contacts, which minimizes resistance and maximizes power efficiency. This is a more direct and efficient connection than Intel's current PowerVia scheme, which connects to the contact level of the transistors with Nano TSVs. TSMC's N2 node does not include backside power delivery; however, with A16, the company will employ a direct-contact backside power delivery network, dubbed Super Power Rail (SPR). A16 is essentially a derivative of the N2P node with SPR. The A16 node is expected to enter production in late 2026. TSMC's A14 will not leverage a backside power design methodology. Intel's 18A node is the mainstream variant, but the company also has several 'line extensions' of the node, designated by different suffixes. These flavors of the underlying node are tailored for different use cases. Intel has a new 18A variant up its sleeve; the new 18A-PT node that will provide the same performance and efficiency benefits as the performance-oriented 18A-P, but adds in Foveros Direct 3D hybrid bonding. This bump-less copper-to-copper bonding technique (meaning it doesn't use microbumps or solder to connect the two dies) fuses chips together with through-silicon vias (TSVs). Intel's implementation will employ a pitch of less than 5 microns, a distinct improvement over its initial goal of a 10um pitch by 2023, to fuse chiplets on top of the 18A-PT die. The pitch is a measurement of the center-to-center spacing between the interconnects, and lower values indicate higher density, which is better. Notably, AMD uses TSMC's SoIC-X technology, a similar hybrid bonding approach, to fuse an L3 chiplet atop its X3D processors with a 9 micron bump pitch. TSMC's SOIC-X tech currently ranges from 4.5 to 9 microns, but the company has a 3-micron pitch offering on the roadmap for 2027. If productized effectively and on schedule, Intel's Foveros Direct 3D will dramatically improve its positioning against TSMC's packaging technology. Intel's Clearwater Forest will be its first to use Foveros Direct 3D packaging, but the company hasn't disclosed the pitch for that specific product yet. Notably, TSVs are typically only included in the base die, and Clearwater Forest uses Intel 3-T for the base die with the Intel 18A compute dies stacked on top. Enabling TSVs for 18A will thus allow it to also have dies stacked atop, and SRAM cache is a logical use case. Image 1 of 2 Image 2 of 2 As we reported last month, Intel's 18A (1.8 nm-equivalent) process node has entered risk production, marking the commencement of the first low-volume production runs of the node, with High Volume Manufacturing (HVM) scheduled for the end of the year. Intel did not specify which processors had begun production, but the timing generally aligns with expectations for its Panther Lake processors, which are expected to arrive at the end of the year. Intel's first 18A production will come from its Oregon fabs, but the company has already 'run the [18A] lot' through its Arizona fab, indicating it will soon begin production there as well. The 18A node is the first in the industry to be productized with both a PowerVia backside power delivery network (BSPDN) and RibbonFET gate-all-around (GAA) transistors. PowerVia provides optimized power routing on the back of the chip to improve performance and transistor density. RibbonFET also offers better transistor density, along with faster transistor switching, in a smaller area through the use of four vertical nanosheets surrounded entirely by the gate. The 18A node enters HVM in roughly the same timeframe as TSMC's competing 2nm N2 node. However, TSMC's N2 node does not come with a backside power delivery network, but it does have GAA technology with three vertical nanosheets. There have been some basic comparisons between the process nodes made based on presentations at a recent industry event. The general takeaway is that Intel's node is faster and lower-power than TSMC's, though TSMC retains the edge in density (and presumably cost). However, these distinctions could vary depending on the specific implementation in different chip designs. Intel divulged today that it has wafers of its high-performance 18A-P node in the fab. This 18A variant features an optimized power and frequency curve, providing an 8% improvement in performance per watt. This can be leveraged as either higher clock speeds or lower power consumption at the same performance, depending upon chip-specific tuning. The 18A-P node is design rule-compatible with the 18A node, easing the design process for customers. Intel is already collaborating with Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software vendors to enable broad support for industry-standard design tools, and it is also working with Intellectual Property (IP) designers to provide the necessary IP blocks, thereby simplifying implementation. Intel Foundry not only addresses the leading edge of technology, but it is also working on several mature nodes. Intel's 16nm node, which is essentially a version of its 22FFL node that leverages industry standard design tools and PDKs, has a tapeout in the fab now. Intel is also continuing its work with partner UMC to develop a 12nm node that will be produced in three of Intel's Arizona fabs beginning in 2027. In fact, Intel is currently engaging lead customer for this node. 12nm will be used primarily for mobile communication infrastructure and networking applications. Intel canceled high volume manufacturing of the 20A node as a cost-cutting measure, but the company is now on the cusp of of production with with its18A node, marking a critical milestone as it looks to regain the manufacturing lead over TSMC. The addition of new line extensions, with the die-stacking-capable 18A-PT being a particularly strong advance, will help the company to further broaden its appeal to potential foundry customers. The development of the company's 14A node is also well underway, signifying that the company is on track to providing a steady cadence of new nodes and features to the roadmap. We haven't yet heard any new details about Intel's plans for its 10A (1nm-class) process node yet, which is expected to begin development in 2027. Intel's press release also doesn't mention any new progress on its Intel 3 node, but we expect more details to emerge throughout the day. Intel's event is focused heavily on displaying its broad portfolio of EDA, IP, and services driven by an ecosystem of indsutry stalwarts, like Synopsys and Cadence. The new Intel Foundry Chiplet Alliance is also an important development that will enable customers to mix-and-match chiplets into their design based upon interoperable and validated designs. Intel's advanced packaging services are also of particular importance as they provide the fastest on-ramp to meaningful revenue generation. Intel did mention that it will make its 3D stacking Foveros implementation available to foundry customers, and noted a new partnership with Amkor. However, details are slight for now. We'll update this article as more information becomes available.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Intel CEO announces layoffs, restructuring, $1.5 billion in cost reductions, expanded return to office mandate
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Intel CEO Lip Bu-Tan announced a series of sweeping measures today, including an unspecified number of layoffs, a company restructuring, the elimination of non-core products, and an expanded return-to-office mandate. The announcement comes as the company presented its disappointing first-quarter earnings report today, causing the stock to decline by 5%. Tan has only been at the helm of Intel for five weeks, but his core message is that the transformation of Intel's culture will be an extended process and requires eliminating the "bureaucracy suffocating the innovation and agility that we need to win," citing that many teams are "eight or more layers deep." Intel has not yet specified the number of employees it expects to lay off in the coming months, but stated that the company will begin the adjustments in Q2 and will implement them over several months. Intel last laid off 15% of its workforce, approximately 15,000 employees, in August 2024. It has been rumored that Intel plans to lay off 20% of its workforce in this round, which could equate to nearly 20,000 more is also reducing its operating expense target by $1.5 billion over the next two years. Intel will reduce its operating expenses to $17 billion in 2025, a $ 500 million cut, and aim for $16 billion in 2026, a further $1 billion reduction. Tan restructured the upper echelon of the management team late last week, but says he will continue to eliminate more layers of the management structure, noting that "many teams are eight or more layers deep, which creates unnecessary bureaucracy that slows us down." He also noted that the most important KPI for managers at Intel has been the size of their team. Tan will eliminate that strategy, instead focusing on creating a leaner and more efficient structure that prioritizes engineering and action. Tan also noted that the current policy, which requires employees to be on site for three days per week, has not been followed consistently. The company will now require all employees to be in the office for four days per week, effective September 1. The focus on efficiency will also extend to significantly reducing internal administrative work, including eliminating unnecessary meetings and reducing the number of attendees. Tan is also making Insights and OKR requirements now optional instead of mandatory. OKRs are a goal-setting method pioneered by company legend Andy Grove that was later discarded, but then loudly resurrected by ex-CEO Pat Gelsinger. This policy shift is yet another sign that a new leader with a different philosophy is now in charge. While Tan has only shared the broad outlines of his plans, they are expansive in scope. "I'm talking about the opportunity to fundamentally reinvent an industry icon. To pull off a comeback that will be studied in business schools for generations to come. To create new technologies and deploy them at scale to change the world for the better," Tan said. "It's going to be hard. It will require painful decisions. But we will make them knowing it's what we must do to serve our customers better as we build a new Intel for the future – and I have great confidence in the power of our team and our people to make it happen." Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wells Fargo positive on new Intel CEO Lip Bu-Tan
Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers reiterated an Equal Weight rating and $25 price target on Intel (INTC) after the company named Lip Bu-Tan as its next CEO. The firm is positive on the announcement as the company looks to reshape or accelerate the validation of its Foundry strategy. While the hiring of Tan is extremely notable in and of itself, the move in Intel shares is likely being driven by views of the new CEO's openness to consider broader strategic moves, for example a pro-spin or accelerating corporate actions, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Easily identify stocks' risks and opportunities. Discover stocks' market position with detailed competitor analyses. Published first on TheFly – the ultimate source for real-time, market-moving breaking financial news. Try Now>> See the top stocks recommended by analysts >> Read More on INTC: Questions or Comments about the article? Write to editor@ Intel names Lip-Bu Tan CEO Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Rolls out Panther Lake System-on-a-Chip Units Nasdaq 100 Index Rallies Alongside the Latest CPI Report Intel Stock Surges as TSMC Venture Could Revive the Chip Giant Why Buying Parts of Intel Could Be a Billion-Dollar Opportunity for Broadcom Sign in to access your portfolio
