Intel announced a new chip manufacturing milestone this week, but former Intel CEO Pat Geelsinger said the U.S. still has a long way to go to wrest chip production rights back from Asia.
"But the metric is how many wafers the U.S. manufactures," Geelsinger said Friday on the "Klarman Countdown" show.
"That's the only thing that matters," he added.
Geelsinger's warning comes as the Trump administration moves to strengthen the U.S. chip manufacturing industry, acquiring stakes in Intel and pushing to bring advanced semiconductor production back to the United States.
Most of the world's advanced chip manufacturing remains concentrated in Asia, particularly Taiwan. U.S. officials say this imbalance raises concerns about the economy and national security.
Geelsinger said the return of manufacturing to the U.S. is crucial, but cautioned that the process will take time.
"Manufacturing is going to be very difficult to bring back. You know, it took decades for manufacturing to move to Asia. It's not going to recover anytime soon," he said.
This week, U.S. President Donald Trump met with Intel CEO Li-Wu Chen at the White House and subsequently praised the company on social media, calling the meeting "fantastic."
Geelsinger said major chip designers like Nvidia and AMD still need to commit to manufacturing chips in the U.S., a commitment he said is part of Intel's long-term strategy.
"All of this requires returning to U.S. wafer fabrication plants and Intel's wafer fabrication plants," Geelsinger added.
"I'm certainly encouraged to see these milestones, but we still have a lot of work to do."
18A and Panther Lake
Claiming credit for the breakthroughs in 18A and Panther Lake
Former Intel CEO Pat Geelsinger shared his thoughts on the achievements of Intel's Panther Lake and 18A processors, stating that it's now crucial to maintain these milestones.
Intel's product launch at CES, particularly the Panther Lake chip based on the 18A process, successfully revolutionized the consumer electronics industry. Given Intel's need to earn the trust of fabless companies like Nvidia, the successful launch of the Panther Lake chip was one of its most important goals. The successful launch of Panther Lake demonstrates that Intel's foundry division is moving in the right direction. In an interview with Fox Business, Pat Geelsinger stated that the 18A process and Panther Lake are significant milestones, all of which he spearheaded.
"First of all, I want to congratulate the Intel team on completing the development of the 18A and launching their new Panther Lake chip. I put a lot of effort into these projects," said Pat Geelsinger.
About 18A
The core technologies and R&D of the 18A node began under Pat Gelsinger's leadership. PowerVia and RibbonFET are reportedly strategies Gelsinger employed to improve the energy efficiency of the 18A node. Gelsinger himself delivered Panther Lake samples to Lenovo before leaving, indicating that Panther Lake was further refined under his leadership. However, before he could bring these technologies to the mainstream market, the former CEO resigned due to pressure from shareholders and the board.
Gelsinger was asked how he would persuade customers to commit to Intel's foundry services, given the optimistic progress on the 18A agreement but the lack of a final deal. He stated that the biggest catalyst would be U.S. government policies, including not only incentives such as the CHIPS Act but also tariffs, which would ultimately lead fabless companies like Nvidia and AMD to view Intel's foundry services as an alternative to TSMC. Semiconductor tariffs have been a widely discussed topic and one of the reasons TSMC has invested billions of dollars in the U.S.
Pat Gelsinger said, "You know, I drive that fast." Obviously, the relationship with the U.S. government is crucial in this regard. I certainly pay attention to government policy, right? You know, it's not just about chips; it includes tariffs and the return of supply chains. All of these are important. It's tricky. It took them decades to leave the U.S., and it will take time to get them back. This week's CES was a significant milestone, but there's still a lot of work to be done. It seems to me that you're working every day to bring foundry and wafer manufacturing back to the U.S.
Intel's next major milestone in foundry services is winning customers for front-end and back-end semiconductor products, especially the 18A-P and 14A processes, which are crucial for driving acceptance in external markets. Intel CEO Li-Bu Chen is confident in the progress of the 14A process, and from the current situation, Intel seems confident about the future of its foundry and product divisions.
Source: Compiled from foxnews
