Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) said in a release on 6 October 2026 that it is working with Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC) to speed up development of chipmaking technology for “next-generation transistors, interconnects and advanced packaging technologies.” The release says the work brings together Applied’s EPIC Center in Silicon Valley and Intel’s R&D campus in Hillsboro, Oregon.
The only Intel technology the release names is advanced packaging for “Foveros-based 3D stacking.” It gives no dollar figure, process node or delivery date for the work. The one date in it belongs to the EPIC Center itself, which the release says is “scheduled to be operationally ready this year.”
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The key insight: The Intel, Micron, TSMC and Kioxia releases each end with a paragraph describing the EPIC Center in near-identical terms: chipmakers get “earlier access to Applied’s R&D portfolio,” and Applied gets “greater multi-node visibility to guide R&D investments.” Beyond the phrase “value sharing,” none of the four says how what comes out of the work is divided.
The release says teams from the two companies are collaborating on “next-generation materials, process technologies and device architectures for advanced logic nodes targeting AI workloads,” and will continue that work at the EPIC Center. It says the collaboration “spans both front-end and back-end-of-line advancements, including interconnect scaling.”
On packaging, the release says the collaboration “also involves development of advanced packaging technologies for Foveros-based 3D stacking, supporting higher interconnect density, improved power delivery, and enhanced thermal performance for high-performance compute platforms designed to accelerate emerging agentic AI workloads.”
The stated aim is speed. The release says the two companies’ capabilities come together “to shorten time-to-market of advanced semiconductor technologies essential to AI computing.”
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is quoted in the release saying Intel looks forward to “expanding our work together at the EPIC Center to help accelerate the path from the lab to high-volume manufacturing in the United States.” Prabu Raja, who runs Applied’s Semiconductor Products Group, calls Intel a “founding partner of the EPIC Center.”
Applied Materials’ own releases naming partners at the EPIC Center, in the order issued. The wording is Applied’s; the list covers only the six releases we read.
What the EPIC Center Is, in Applied’s Words
The release describes the EPIC (Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization) Center as “designed from the ground up to dramatically reduce the time it takes to commercialize breakthrough technologies from early-stage research to full-scale manufacturing.”
For chipmakers, the release says, the center will provide “earlier access to Applied’s R&D portfolio, faster cycles of learning and accelerated transfer of next-generation technologies into high-volume manufacturing, within a secure collaborative environment.”
Applied also says what it gets. The release says the co-innovation programs “will provide Applied with greater multi-node visibility to guide R&D investments while increasing R&D productivity and value sharing.”
Where Intel Sits in Applied’s EPIC Announcements
Applied has issued a run of releases naming EPIC Center partners. The six we read are listed below in the order issued, and the chart shows the same sequence.
10 March 2026, Micron. The release quotes Applied’s chief executive calling Micron a “founding partner at the EPIC Center,” with work on DRAM, high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and NAND.
11 May 2026, TSMC. The release quotes Prabu Raja calling TSMC a “founding partner of the EPIC Center,” with work on materials engineering for advanced logic scaling.
11 August 2026, UC Berkeley. The release says the university will join the EPIC Center as “a research collaborator.”
29 September 2026, Kioxia. The release says Kioxia will join as “an innovation partner,” with work on memory-cell structures, multi-chip stacking and packaging for stacked memory.
1 October 2026, Besi. The release says Besi is joining as an “Innovation Partner,” extending joint work on hybrid bonding to “new interconnect architectures.” Besi’s chief executive is quoted saying the move gives Besi “a seat alongside the leading logic, memory and systems companies.”
6 October 2026, Intel. The release this piece is about: transistors, interconnects and Foveros-based 3D stacking, with Intel described as a founding partner.
The list is limited to the six releases we read. It is not a list of every partner Applied has named.
The $5 Billion Is in the Other Releases, Not This One
The Micron, TSMC, Kioxia and Besi releases each describe the EPIC Center as a $5 billion investment. Each carries a footnote saying capital spending is “expected to scale over time” to approximately $5 billion “as customer projects commence.”
Today’s release repeats neither the figure nor the footnote. Its closing paragraph describes the center without a dollar amount and says only that it is “scheduled to be operationally ready this year.” This piece draws no conclusion from the difference.
The Structural Read
We read the Intel release as covering the path from transistor to package in one collaboration. It lists next-generation transistors, “front-end and back-end-of-line advancements, including interconnect scaling,” and “Foveros-based 3D stacking,” and it names no process node.
Applied’s Prabu Raja makes the packaging point in the Besi release. He says advanced packaging is “no longer a back-end assembly step” but “a materials engineering challenge that demands the same precision and cleanliness as front-end wafer fabrication.” The Intel release puts packaging in the same list as transistors and interconnects.
The release does not say whether Intel can see what other partners do at the center. It says only that the work happens “within a secure collaborative environment.”
Naga Chandrasekaran, Intel Foundry general manager, quoted in Applied’s release
“Applied Materials’ new EPIC Center provides an environment where our teams can collaborate even more closely and at higher velocity to accelerate materials development and process innovations.”
Three Implications
THE SCOPE IS STATED BROADLY The release lists transistors, interconnects, front-end and back-end-of-line work and Foveros-based 3D stacking. It names no process node and no product beyond Foveros.
THE $5 BILLION IS SPENDING THAT SCALES The Micron, TSMC, Kioxia and Besi releases say capital spending is “expected to scale over time” to approximately $5 billion “as customer projects commence.” Today’s release does not repeat the figure.
NO DATE IS ATTACHED TO THE INTEL WORK The one date in the release belongs to the center, which it says is “scheduled to be operationally ready this year.” It gives no milestone or deliverable for the work with Intel.
What Is Not Established
The release gives no dollar figure for the Applied–Intel collaboration, no process node, no product name other than Foveros and no start date, milestone or deliverable. It does not say how much of Intel’s work happens at the EPIC Center and how much at Hillsboro. Beyond the phrase “value sharing,” it gives no terms on how the two companies divide what comes out of the work.
Intel’s statements are quoted in Applied’s release. When we checked Intel’s newsroom and investor relations press-release page on 6 October 2026 we did not find a separate Intel announcement of the collaboration.
The $5 billion figure is Applied’s own description of expected capital spending, and we have not checked it. We did not contact Applied Materials or Intel. This piece draws no conclusion about either company and makes no forecast. Readers can also see our earlier report on Samsung’s memory shortage warning and our explainer on GPUs; this piece does not compare them with this one.
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Applied Materials said on 6 October 2026 that it is working with Intel on next-generation transistors, interconnects and advanced packaging for AI chips, including “Foveros-based 3D stacking,” across its EPIC Center in Silicon Valley and Intel’s Hillsboro, Oregon campus. The release gives no dollar figure, node or schedule for the work. Applied’s earlier releases naming Micron, TSMC, Kioxia and Besi describe the center as a $5 billion investment whose capital spending is “expected to scale over time”; today’s release does not repeat the figure.
A note on sourcing. This piece rests on Applied Materials’ release of 6 October 2026 and on five earlier Applied releases about its EPIC Center (10 March, 11 May, 11 August, 29 September and 1 October 2026), all read in full. Intel’s statements are quoted in Applied’s release; we checked Intel’s newsroom and investor relations page and did not find a separate Intel announcement. We did not read Applied’s other EPIC Center announcements, so the list of partners above is not complete, and we haven’t checked the company’s statements independently. We did not contact Applied Materials or Intel. Nothing here is a forecast, and nothing here is financial or investment advice.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
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