At Lenovo Tech World 2024, the company’s annual global innovation event held in Seattle, Washington, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced on Wednesday that Intel has delivered the first sample of its Panther Lake CPU, built on the Intel 18A process, to Lenovo.

Why it matters: For leading Chinese PC maker Lenovo, receiving Intel’s next-gen Panther Lake CPU is a critical tech advance. The partnership highlights Lenovo’s access to cutting-edge processors, promising enhanced performance and competitiveness in the global PC market.

Details: During the event, Gelsinger spoke before handing Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing the first Panther Lake sample.

• “You know, we were working together on Meteor Lake, Lunar Lake, and the Core Ultra PC, great battery life, CPU, GPU, NPU. But we’re not done, are we?” Gelsinger said. “So I’d like to give you your first Panther Lake sample. This is our next-year product on Intel 18A that will be launching to build on the great work that we just announced today. Isn’t that cool?” “Definitely,” Yang replied.
• Panther Lake is the codename for Intel’s upcoming third generation of Core Ultra processors, scheduled to succeed the Lunar Lake series, according to Intel. The current generation of Lunar Lake primarily features cores built on TSMC’s 3nm process.
• Although Intel has not released detailed information about Panther Lake, it has indicated that the architecture will largely rely on Intel processes, including key computer cores using Intel 18A technology, hybrid bonding, wafer-to-wafer stacking, advanced packaging, and PowerVia technology.
• Intel’s 18A process node is scheduled to enter production in 2025, the Canadian tech media outlet Wccftech has reported. With the introduction of RibbonFET and PowerVia, Intel’s clients will benefit from enhanced processor scalability and efficiency amid a rush toward AI computing. 
• As for Panther Lake, the Core Ultra 300 SKUs are expected to include Cougar Cove P-Cores and Skymont E-Cores, according to the same report from Wccftech. The integrated GPU will showcase the third significant update of the Xe architecture, known as Xe3, and codenamed Celestial.

Context: The Cybersecurity Association of China (CSAC) stated on Wednesday that any new products from Intel sold in China should undergo a security review, claiming the US chipmaker has “constantly harmed” the nation’s security and interests. 

• Although CSAC is an industry group rather than a government agency, it has strong connections to the state, and its allegations could prompt a review by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC). Intel and the CAC have not yet responded on the matter.