Intel

Intel is the storied US semiconductor company that defined the PC and server CPU eras, now in the midst of a difficult turnaround. It competes in data-center CPUs (Xeon), AI accelerators (Gaudi), and is building a contract foundry business (Intel Foundry) to challenge TSMC. After heavy losses and leadership change, it received strategic investments from the US government and partners as a matter of national supply-chain security.

Founded in 1968 by Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce, Intel drove the semiconductor industry for decades through its integrated design-and-manufacturing model and the x86 architecture. It ceded process-technology leadership to TSMC and Samsung in the late 2010s and largely missed the first wave of the AI accelerator market.

Its AI hardware effort centers on the Gaudi line (from its Habana Labs acquisition), positioned on price-performance rather than peak performance, while Xeon CPUs remain widely used for inference and as host processors. The IDM 2.0 strategy aims to turn Intel Foundry into a viable alternative to TSMC for leading-edge manufacturing, anchored by its 18A process node.

The company's 2025 was defined by restructuring and rescue: large workforce reductions, a new CEO, and unusual strategic investments — including a stake taken by the US government and capital from partners — reflecting Intel's status as the only US-headquartered company attempting leading-edge logic manufacturing at scale.