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Intel

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Wes Davis
Broadcom is reportedly eyeing Intel, too.

Following reports that TSMC is considering buying Intel’s chip manufacturing business at the Trump administration’s encouragement, The Wall Street Journal writes that Broadcom is separately kicking Intel’s tires, but a bid is only likely “if it finds a partner for Intel’s manufacturing business.”

WSJ’s anonymous sources say Intel interim executive chairman Frank Yeary is leading talks with possible buyers and the Trump administration, but is saying his focus is “maximizing value for Intel shareholders.”

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Sean Hollister
Could TSMC take over Intel’s chip factories?

Yesterday, President Trump accused TSMC: “Taiwan took our chip business away.”

But Bloomberg and The New York Times have anonymous sources saying Trump’s pick for commerce secretary is encouraging TSMC to do a deal. Bloomberg’s source says TSMC is open to it; The NYT’s sources suggest Intel might be interested too; its board reportedly approached TSMC and its interim chairman reportedly met directly with both TSMC’s CEO and Trump’s people.

And yet, Reuters now reports that Trump is “unlikely” to support a foreign firm operating Intel’s factories. Intel’s CHIPS Act money also came with strings attached that could interfere, but Reuters reports that Trump may be renegotiating those deals.

Dell XPS 13 review: out with a whimper

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Verge Score

A capable Lunar Lake chipset and great screen would have made this a killer laptop, if it weren’t for several unforced errors on Dell’s part.

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Sean Hollister
Intel is canceling Falcon Shores, its next big AI chip.

“I am not happy with where we are today,” Intel interim co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus says of the company’s AI server business on today’s earnings call, a business which has not met its promises with Gaudi.

So, says Holthaus, Intel will “simplify our roadmap and concentrate our resources” by canceling Falcon Shores. We plan to leverage Falcon Shores as an internal test chip only without bringing it to market.” It’ll focus on Jaguar Shores, a “system-level solution at rack scale,” instead.

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Sean Hollister
Intel is getting a little smaller — it’s cutting its venture capital arm loose.

We used to write things like “Intel leads $21 million investment in Tobii’s eye-tracking system,” but that might become harder: Intel Capital, a division which invested $20B in over 1,800 companies, is spinning out into its own firm later in 2025.

It’s not surprising to see Intel shrink a bit amidst its recent troubles. Here’s Intel Capital’s current portfolio.

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Sean Hollister
Hey that’s me, chatting about the Intel / Quanta prototype modular handheld concept that surprised me at CES.

Ever wanted to have dinner with The Verge’s staff, shooting the shit about gadgets? Here’s the next best thing: we filmed a roundtable chat over our actual team dinner at CES in Las Vegas; this clip is just a taste.

If you’d rather have more photos and not-quite-details about this prototype, find ‘em here.

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Sean Hollister
Intel brought working prototype Panther Lake laptops to CES.

As proof it’s on track with its next low-power laptop chip — the chip that will itself prove out Intel’s 18A process, which could in turn prove whether the company can regain silicon manufacturing leadership — Intel showed journalists these working samples.

These aren’t laptops you’ll actually buy — they’re demonstrators from Compal, Pegatron, and Wistron, which serve as ODMs to brand-name laptop companies.

<em>There was nothing running on these machines for us to try, mind you, but that’s typical this early.</em>
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There was nothing running on these machines for us to try, mind you, but that’s typical this early.
Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
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Sean Hollister
The Sphere was a giant Intel ad last night, and it felt weird.

I know everything in Vegas is for sale, but wouldn’t the Sphere be more of an attraction if the structure displayed more incredible 3D art and fewer ads? (This is one of like three we saw repeatedly looped while riding a ferris wheel.)

Also, for a seemingly struggling company, Intel must have spent quite a bit on CES this year — it’s plastered all over the Vegas monorail, too.

Intel vPro badge atop a blue and purple electrical lines zig zagging
Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
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Tom Warren
Here’s another sign that AMD is winning the CPU war.

Asus is introducing an AMD version of its Apex motherboards at CES this week, which had previously been exclusive to Intel since 2017. The ROG Crosshair X870E Apex and Ryzen 9 9950X are already setting overclocking records, and that’s before the 9950X3D launches soon. Meanwhile, Intel is busy rolling out performance fixes for its latest Arrow Lake CPUs to try and improve gaming performance.

Asus now has an Apex AMD motherboard for overclockers.
Asus now has an Apex AMD motherboard for overclockers.
Image: Asus
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Sean Hollister
Intel ex-CEO Pat Gelsinger is tweeting through it.

Did Intel’s board “retire” him because he botched something, or did it rug pull before he could finish the job? Either way, Gelsinger is now praying for Intel’s employees and defending its all-important 18A silicon process on X. He agrees it’s “fake news” that yields are bad, and explains yields depend on chip size. (You can fit more tiny chips on a wafer than big ones!)

What happened to Intel?What happened to Intel?
Intel
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Thomas Ricker
Qualcomm x Intel seems unlikely.

Prospects of an acquisition have cooled, according to sources speaking to Bloomberg:

The complexities associated with acquiring all of Intel has made a deal less attractive to Qualcomm, said some of the people, asking not to be identified discussing confidential matters. It’s always possible Qualcomm looks at pieces of Intel instead or rekindles its interest later, they added.

Qualcomm first approached Intel with the idea of a takeover in September.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition review: Intel excellence inside, middling outside

6

Verge Score

The $1,300 ‘Aura Edition’ laptop doesn’t quite live up to its fancy new Lunar Lake processor.

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Sean Hollister
Intel’s restructuring bill has come due — here’s how much it’s costing.

Intel just reported Q3 2024 earnings, and losses are ten times worse than Q2 — a $16.6 billion loss, up from $1.6 billion. But Intel says that’s because of write-offs and restructuring to turn its fortunes around, including depreciating old manufacturing for its Intel 7 node.

Revenue was actually slightly up this quarter — and Intel says the “vast majority” of its planned layoffs are over.

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Sean Hollister
Go read how the US government’s big bet on Intel is in jeopardy.

Intel stands to receive $8.5 billion in CHIPS Act funding, ostensibly to make America lead in silicon again, but Intel’s not looking like much of a leader right now. Among other things, Anna Swanson and Tripp Mickle at The New York Times found out Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has asked Big Tech to order chips from Intel fabs — and most of them said no.

Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285K CPU is one step forward, one step back for PC gaming

Intel’s flagship Core Ultra 200S-series processor runs more efficiently, but PC gaming performance is disappointing.

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Thomas Ricker
Good news for Intel.

The company has successfully reduced its record-setting EU fine of €1.06 billion to €376.36 million, at most. It was levied way back in 2009 after the x86 maker was found guilty of anticompetitive practices like paying PC makers to halt or delay the launch of products fitted with competing chips.

So, is the legal battle over? Nope! But Intel’s definitely not a dominant chipmaker anymore.

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Emma Roth
Intel is laying off around 1,300 workers in Oregon.

The layoffs affect workers at all four of Intel’s Oregon campuses, according to a WARN notice posted online. The job cuts come as part of Intel’s broader layoffs that will impact more than 15,000 employees.

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Wes Davis
Is Intel’s Lunar Lake CPU about to show up in a Surface laptop?

A Reddit user spotted a Microsoft Surface Laptop outfitted with Intel’s next-gen ARM competitor on a Chinese website called Goofish, Windows Central reports.

The outlet says its sources confirmed that Microsoft is testing the chip in a Surface, but that it’s not clear if it’s the Surface Laptop 7 or a future version of the machine.