Intel Foundry Services Scores Partnership with Israeli Auto Chipmaker

Intel Foundry Services (IFS) this week announced its partnership with Israel-based Valens Semiconductor to produce the firm’s advanced chipset technology for the auto industry.

Valens’ chipsets use advanced process nodes that deliver in-vehicle, high-speed sensor connectivity used in everything from safety features to comfort features and more. Valens CEO Gideon Ben-Zvi tells InformationWeek in an interview that the partnership will help both companies advance the industry’s chiplet capabilities.

The company’s MIPI A-PHY chipsets are already used throughout the global automotive industry, giving IFS a strong foothold for their new fabs now under construction. Neither company would say where the chips will be produced, but the fabs are integral to Intel’s plan to retake its lead as a chip manufacturer.

Valens will use Intel’s edge process technology to produce its second generation of A-PHY chipsets. A-PHY was first introduced to market by Valens in 2020 and has attracted an ecosystem of companies designing products based on the technology.

“Chiplets are the future of this industry,” Ben-Zvi says. “So, Intel decided that using advanced packaging is part of the future of the chip industry. [The partnership] combines a company that needs this technology and the company that supply it … what this collaboration will do is give them access to the market and give us the technology to serve the market.”

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Intel has been drumming up business for its IDM 2.0 strategy, which will see chip fabs built in the US and Europe. In the US alone, Intel has committed more than $43.5 billion to a massive manufacturing expansion with new fabs and projects in Ohio, Arizona, and New Mexico. The company’s ambitious plan was a key factor in the passage of the $52.7 billion CHIPS Act.

“One of the goals of Intel Foundry Services is to identify transformative technologies, and harness Intel’s breakthrough process technology and global ecosystem to accelerate innovation and unlock new opportunities for our customers,” Stuart Pann, senior vice president and general manager for IFS, said in a statement. “The MIPI A-PHY chipset is an obvious fit -- a next-generation technology with the potential for broad market adoption that can help advance automotive performance and safety and further the autonomous vision.”