Alphabet-owned Google has reportedly selected Intel to manufacture over three million Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) for deployment in 2028. The chips involved are Google’s custom-designed TPUs, the AI accelerators that power many of the company’s most important products and services, reports The Information. The deal is significant not only because of its scale, but because it signals growing confidence among the world’s biggest AI companies in Intel’s ability to manufacture advanced semiconductors after years of losing technological leadership to Taiwan’s TSMC.
Notably, unlike Nvidia’s GPUs, which are sold across the industry, Google’s TPUs are built specifically for the company’s internal infrastructure and cloud customers. They are used to train and run large AI models, support Gemini AI systems, process AI-enhanced search queries, and provide machine-learning services through Google Cloud. And as AI adoption accelerates worldwide, the Sundar Pichai-led firm has increasingly relied on its own silicon strategy to reduce dependence on Nvidia’s hardware while controlling costs and securing long-term computing capacity.
The move also becomes notable as for years, TSMC has dominated advanced chip manufacturing, producing processors for companies including Apple, Nvidia, AMD and Google. However, the AI boom has created unprecedented demand for cutting-edge fabrication capacity, leaving many chip designers concerned about relying too heavily on a single supplier.
For Intel, the potential deal represents a crucial milestone in its effort to build a world-class contract manufacturing business. Under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, the company has been aggressively expanding its foundry operations and investing tens of billions of dollars into new manufacturing facilities and process technologies. Intel has spent years attempting to convince major chip designers that it can become a credible alternative to TSMC. And now, a commitment from Google for millions of AI chips would provide one of the strongest endorsements yet of Intel’s manufacturing roadmap and could help attract additional high-profile customers.
Meanwhile, the report also indicates that Nvidia is evaluating Intel’s manufacturing and packaging technologies for future AI processors, although no production order has been announced. According to the report, Nvidia is examining whether Intel’s technology could support designs that combine multiple graphics processors into a single package. But if Nvidia eventually joins Google as an Intel foundry customer, it would represent another breakthrough for Intel’s ambitions in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
The development comes amid a series of signs that Intel’s foundry business is gaining traction. The company has already been confirmed as a manufacturing partner in Tesla’s Terafab AI infrastructure initiative. At the same time, reports have also indicated that Apple has explored potential future manufacturing opportunities with Intel.
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Ashutosh is a Senior Writer at The Tech Portal, largely reporting on new tech, and intersection of technology and business. Ashutosh’s career spans across nearly a decade of technology writing across multiple platforms and languages.
