Intel (INTC) on Thursday unveiled its Core Ultra Series 3 processor, code-named Panther Lake, marking the company’s first chip built on its long-awaited 18A process technology. The processor is also the first to be manufactured at Intel’s newly opened Fab 52 plant in Arizona, reinforcing the company’s commitment to U.S. semiconductor production.

The 18A process, featuring RibbonFET gate-all-around transistors and PowerVia technology, is designed to enhance both performance and energy efficiency. Intel claims it is the most advanced semiconductor process fully developed and built in America.

Core Ultra Series 3 chips will enter high-volume production this year and begin shipping before year-end. Intel’s lineup includes three main variants:

• 8-core CPU with up to 4 Xe GPU cores
• 16-core CPU with up to 4 Xe GPU cores
• 16-core CPU with up to 12 Xe GPU cores

The chips support up to 96GB of memory and deliver up to 180 trillion operations per second (TOPS), a key metric for AI workloads. Intel projects up to 50% improvement in multi-threaded performance and 10% in single-threaded performance compared with prior Lunar Lake- and Arrow Lake-based processors, while GPU performance could rise by as much as 50%.

Intel faces significant pressure to balance high performance with battery efficiency, as competitors like AMD and Apple continue to lead in laptop power and energy efficiency. Qualcomm has also introduced Arm-based chips for Windows PCs, raising the bar for Intel’s new offerings.

In addition to the Core Ultra Series 3, Intel previewed its Xeon 6+ data center processor, also built on 18A technology. Success with these chips could not only bolster Intel’s PC market presence but also encourage more manufacturers to adopt Intel’s advanced 18A process for their own designs.