NVIDIA reportedly abandons chip manufacturing for Intel 18A

Reuters reports that NVIDIA has conducted tests to manufacture chips using Intel's next-generation 18A node manufacturing process, but has abandoned plans for mass production.

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According to sources, NVIDIA conducted tests on Intel's production process but ultimately decided to halt progress toward mass production. NVIDIA has declined to comment publicly, but Intel has emphasized that the 18A technology is progressing smoothly and continues to receive strong customer interest.

The report points to quality and yield issues at Intel Foundry, Intel's manufacturing division. Some in the industry predict that the 18A node will primarily be used for Intel's own CPU products, such as Panther Lake and Nova Lake, and that it will not be until the 14A node, which is scheduled to be available in 2027, that external customers will be seriously attracted.

Intel announces 14A process overview, improving performance per watt by 15-20% compared to 18A - GIGAZINE

NVIDIA will invest $5 billion (approximately 775 billion yen) in Intel in September 2025 to strengthen its partnership, but this partnership is focused on product-level cooperation such as integrating NVIDIA's GPUs into Intel's x86 processors. No definitive agreement has been reached regarding the use of foundry services.

The US government has decided to provide Intel with $5.7 billion (approximately 884 billion yen) in funding and acquire approximately 10% of the company's shares to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity.

While massive public funding has placed Intel in a crucial position in U.S. industrial policy, NVIDIA's decision to forgo mass production in the 18A series suggests that Intel still has a long way to go to win back customers from competitors like TSMC. Intel CEO Lip Vu Tan has been rushing to restructure the company to restore a more engineer-driven culture, including implementing a massive workforce reduction of approximately 15% of the company's workforce .