Intel starts cooking up enhanced 18A-P silicon for would-be foundry customers

While Intel ramps up production of its 18A process node, the chipmaker has started limited output of its enhanced variant, 18A-P, promising 9 percent higher performance at the same power. At the IEEE's 2026 VLSI Symposium in Hawaii, Intel disclosed that it has started risk production using 18A-P, the first of its planned enhancements for the 18A process, and potentially the first to be used for commercial customers of Intel's foundry biz. Risk production refers to initial low-volume output to qu