[Digital Today reporter Seok Dae-geon] Intel's chase in the foundry (contract chipmaking) business is materialising into actual orders from big tech. Tesla has decided to entrust Intel’s 1.4-nanometre-class (14A) process with making artificial intelligence (AI) chips, and Google is reported to have shifted part of its Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) production to Intel. Intel, backed by U.S. government support, appears to be exploiting the opening created for Samsung by supply bottlenecks at Taiwan’s TSMC.

The reshaping of the foundry market began with TSMC’s production limits. With AI chip volumes from Nvidia and AMD concentrating at TSMC, delivery times have lengthened and process utilisation prices have risen. In the process, Samsung Electronics emerged as an alternative for customers seeking to diversify supply chains. That is the backdrop to Samsung’s foundry business recently securing orders in succession for Nvidia’s AI inference-only chips and autonomous driving chips, as well as volumes from Tesla and Apple, as it fights for a return to profitability.

But Intel has emerged as a variable in a gap Samsung’s foundry was expected to target. Full-throated support from a U.S. administration promoting an America-first approach is bolstering Intel’s pursuit. The U.S. government, in addition to subsidies through the CHIPS Act, has directly secured a stake in Intel and is effectively pushing it as a “national champion”. Intel, after securing Microsoft as a customer, has also drawn in Tesla and Google this year. Apple’s possible use of Intel is also being discussed as it moves to reduce dependence on Taiwan.

That makes order competition between Samsung and Intel inevitable for volumes from large U.S. customers such as Nvidia, Tesla and Apple. A trend of big tech choosing Intel at home rather than Samsung as an alternative is a painful point for Samsung. U.S. domestic production, justified as supply chain security, is moving beyond policy slogans into commercial decisions by Apple, Tesla and Google.

Intel is also accelerating efforts to strengthen leadership, an area long cited as a weakness. It recruited Lee Seok-hee (이석희), former president of SK On, as a senior vice president in its foundry unit to oversee advanced packaging, system integration, and backend technology development and manufacturing. Senior Vice President Naga Chandrasekaran is in charge of front-end processes, establishing a two-track system separating front-end and back-end operations. Intel plans to run advanced packaging as an independent business unit dedicated to it and expand technologies such as “EMIB-T” and “HBI” into mass production.

◆What technology cards will emerge at the Samsung Foundry Forum?

Ultimately, Samsung Electronics’ response strategy converges on a technology-based “super-gap”. Samsung is the only company in the world that has foundry, high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced packaging capabilities. A turn-key solution that bundles everything from chip design to memory integration and packaging, along with stabilising yields for its 3-nanometre and 2-nanometre gate-all-around (GAA) processes, is cited as leverage to absorb waiting demand at TSMC. Its plant in Taylor, Texas could serve as a forward base to capture “Made in USA” demand.

The outlines of that strategy are expected to emerge at the “SAFE Forum 2026” and “Samsung Foundry Forum (SFF) 2026” to be held at Samsung’s Seocho office building in Seoul on July 1. It is an annual event where Samsung Electronics shares the latest technology and a growth roadmap with foundry customers and partners. The forum will open with a presentation on the status of the foundry business by Shin Jong-shin, head of the design platform development office, and continue with hands-on technical sessions on libraries and customer design support. With Park Sung-hyun (박성현), CEO of AI chip designer Rebellion, and a Siemens EDA official speaking, it is also a venue to strengthen cohesion in a foundry ecosystem where close collaboration with partners is emerging as a key variable in success or failure.

The key is the sub-2-nanometre leading-edge process roadmap and additional order wins from big tech customers. Han Jin-man (한진만), head of the foundry business division, recently said, “A return to profitability next year does not look easy, but the possibility of achieving profitability in 2028 is high.” As Intel advances a geopolitical safety net in the form of the United States, which technology cards Samsung plays to keep customers at this forum is expected to be a watershed that determines the timing of a return to profitability.