Intel just had a historic day. On May 8, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple and Intel have reached a preliminary agreement on chip manufacturing. Intel stock surged 14 percent, hitting a new all-time high.
What’s behind it?
Apple currently has all its advanced chips manufactured exclusively by TSMC in Taiwan. It works, but TSMC is hitting capacity limits — largely because of exploding demand for AI chips. Nvidia, AMD, Anthropic partners, Google, and practically every other major AI player wants TSMC capacity. There simply isn’t enough to go around.
The solution: diversification. Enter Intel. Intel’s foundry business struggled for years, but with its next manufacturing node — 18A-P — Apple could start having chips made there as early as next year.
Why AI readers should care
This might sound like pure hardware news. But the implications reach directly into the AI world: only three companies globally can manufacture the most advanced chips — TSMC, Samsung, and Intel. If Intel becomes competitive again through the Apple deal, it creates more manufacturing capacity. More capacity means more AI chips. More AI chips mean lower prices and faster scaling for companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google.
The AI chip shortage is real. Every new production line that comes online makes a difference. The fact that Wall Street sees it this way too is reflected not just in Intel’s surge but also in AMD (up 16 percent on strong quarterly results) and other chip stocks.
The bigger picture
The shift in the chip market is remarkable. For months, Nvidia was the undisputed king of AI stocks. Now money is flowing into the broader supply chain — Intel, AMD, Micron, Corning. The signal: investors believe the AI boom is long-term and the entire semiconductor industry will benefit, not just a single player.
Sources: CNBC · SiliconAngle · CNBC