Intel is reportedly in talks with Taiwanese ASIC design house Alchip over the development of its next AI accelerator family, codenamed "Jaguar Shores." The design could be wrapped up by the first half of 2026, and be Intel's first solid footing in datacenter AI hardware after years of playing catch-up. Additionally it also comes at the time as the company shifts to a faster, more regular cadence for AI product refreshes. If the timeline holds, Jaguar Shores will be one of the clearest tests yet of whether Team Blue can stand as a meaningful challenge to the well-established players like NVIDIA, AMD, and countless other ASIC designers.

Under the deal being discussed, Alchip would not simply be a contractor but a deep engineering partner, taking on tasks from RTL integration and extensive verification to advanced packaging and system-level validation, while leaving wafer fabrication to leading foundries. Intel will be supplying IP and system requirements, while Alchip will be supplying custom ASIC execution. This could shorten development cycles and reduce risk. For Intel, outsourcing those heavy-lift engineering stages makes sense as it lets the company focus on architecture and software while leveraging Alchip's experience getting complex AI designs from spec to silicon.
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