Intel Unveils Panther Lake Architecture: First AI PC Platform Built on 18A (www.intc.com)

Intel today unveiled Panther Lake — its Intel Core Ultra series 3 client SoCs and the company’s first AI PC platform manufactured on the Intel 18A node — and previewed Xeon 6+ (Clearwater Forest) for servers. Panther Lake is a multi-chiplet, scalable XPU design that Intel says will begin shipping later this year (broad availability Jan 2026) and deliver major CPU, GPU and AI uplifts: up to 16 combined P‑ and E‑cores, a new Intel Arc GPU with up to 12 Xe cores, claims of >50% CPU and graphics performance gains vs. the prior generation, and up to 180 TOPS of platform AI acceleration. Intel is positioning Panther Lake for AI PCs, gaming, edge devices and robotics (new robotics AI suite and reference board), emphasizing flexibility across form factors and price points. The significance is twofold: technical and strategic. Panther Lake and Xeon 6+ are built on Intel 18A — a U.S.-manufactured 2‑nanometer-class node featuring RibbonFET transistors, PowerVia backside power delivery and Foveros 3D packaging — which Intel says yields ~15% better performance-per-watt and ~30% higher density versus earlier nodes. Xeon 6+ targets hyperscalers with up to 288 E‑cores and a quoted 17% IPC uplift, prioritizing efficiency and density for cloud workloads. Production will ramp at Fab 52 in Chandler, Arizona, reinforcing domestic advanced-node capacity and Intel’s foundry ambitions for next‑gen AI hardware.