TSMC says ‘A16’ chipmaking tech to reach in 2026, organising showdown with Intel By Reuters

By Stephen Nellis

SANTA CLARA, California (Reuters) -Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co stated on Wednesday {that a} new chip manufacturing expertise referred to as “A16” will enter manufacturing within the second half of 2026, organising a showdown with longtime rival Intel (NASDAQ:) over who could make the world’s quickest chips.

TSMC, the world’s greatest contract producer of superior computing chips and a key provider to Nvidia (NASDAQ:) and Apple (NASDAQ:), introduced the information at a convention in Santa Clara, California, the place TSMC executives stated that makers of AI chips will doubtless be the primary adopters of the expertise moderately than a smartphone maker.

Analysts informed Reuters that the applied sciences introduced on Wednesday might name into query Intel’s claims in February that it’ll overtake TSMC in making the world’s quickest computing chips with a brand new expertise Intel calls “14A.”

Kevin Zhang, TSMC’s senior vp of enterprise improvement, informed reporters that the corporate has developed its new A16 chipmaking course of sooner than anticipated due to demand from AI chip corporations, with out naming particular clients.

AI chip corporations “actually wish to optimize their designs to get each ounce of efficiency we’ve,” Zhang stated.

Zhang stated that TSMC doesn’t imagine it wants to make use of a ASML (AS:)’s new “Excessive NA EUV” lithography instrument machines to construct the A16 chips. Intel final week revealed that it plans to be the primary to make use of the machines, which may price $373 million every, to develop its 14A chip.

TSMC additionally revealed a brand new expertise for suppling energy to laptop chips from the bottom of the chip, which helps pace up AI chips and will likely be out there in 2026.

Intel has introduced an identical expertise supposed to be one in every of its major aggressive benefits.

Analysts stated the bulletins referred to as into query Intel’s claims that it’ll retake the world chipmaking crown.

“It is debatable, however on some metrics, I do not assume they’re forward,” Dan Hutcheson, vice chair at analyst agency TechInsights, stated of Intel.

However Kevin Krewell, a principal at TIRIAS Analysis, cautioned that each Intel and TSMC’s applied sciences stay years away from delivering the expertise and might want to show that actual chips match their keynote displays.