ASML's $400M chip tool ships first processors ahead of schedule
Intel has become the first chipmaker to use ASML’s $400m High NA lithography machine in mass production, proving the European firm's newest technology works while highlighting the industry's struggle to justify its cost.
ASML announced on Wednesday that Intel Foundry is using its High NA extreme ultraviolet lithography tool to print specific layers in its Core Ultra Series 3 laptop chips, codenamed Panther Lake. It is the first time any chipmaker has shipped a volume logic product patterned with the machine.
The deployment is happening years ahead of schedule. The $400m tool was widely expected to debut late this decade on Intel’s upcoming 14A manufacturing node, but it has instead arrived early on the current 18A node.
However, Intel is not actually relying on the new machine to make these chips work. ASML noted that the 18A layers in question are "dual-qualified," meaning they are certified to run on older, standard EUV scanners at matched yields. Naga Chandrasekaran, who runs Intel Foundry, framed the move as a way to increase output "while we develop future options" for later nodes. In reality, Intel is running the tool to gather data on a processor that does not strictly require it.
The reluctance to dive fully into High NA comes down to basic economics. The machine costs twice as much as a standard EUV scanner and images only half the field, requiring engineers to stitch two exposures together to form a full pattern. While the tool cuts the smallest printable feature from 13nm to 8nm in a single exposure—saving chipmakers from costly, time-consuming multi-patterning—the upfront expense remains a heavy burden.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, has been the most conspicuous holdout. Chairman C.C. Wei told shareholders in June that cost is the only factor keeping High NA out of TSMC's mass production. The company owns the tools for research, but its next two manufacturing nodes, both aimed at 2029, are not expected to need them.
For ASML, the Intel milestone validates a lithography roadmap that rarely hits its marks on time. The Dutch company raised its 2026 revenue guidance to €43-45bn, up from €36-40bn, citing artificial intelligence demand. ASML also plans to expand EUV and DUV capacity by 30% in each of the next two years.
Intel’s true test for High NA will come with its 14A node, where the tool is designed into the process rather than bolted on. Risk production for that node remains on track for 2028. In the meantime, Intel continues to spend heavily on its European operations, committing €5bn last week to its Irish fab, one of the few EUV sites in Europe.
