Key Takeaways From Intel Foundry Direct Connect 2025

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan On Stage At Direct Connect

There was a time when no one in the semiconductor industry could build transistors like Intel, but a series of missteps and changes in strategy spread out over the better part of the last decade shifted that paradigm.

Intel is now attempting to propel its manufacturing processes back into a leadership position, while simultaneously trying to woo fabless semiconductor customers to manufacture their chips in Intel’s fabs. To do that, Intel has to establish more trust in the industry and not only prove the competitiveness of its processes, but also that partners can make the chips with familiar and established workflows, consistently and with high reliability. Just about everything I heard today made me believe Intel is on track to do just that.