At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Intel unveiled its Core Ultra Series 3 mobile processors, marking the first commercial compute platform built on its next‐generation 18A process technology. Designed and manufactured in the United States, the new chips will underpin more than 200 laptop designs from global OEM partners. Intel projects this broad adoption will establish Series 3 as its most widely deployed AI PC platform to date, reinforcing the company’s foundry credentials and U.S. supply-chain leadership.

The flagship Core Ultra X9 models feature up to 16 CPU cores, 12 Xe GPU cores and a neural processing unit capable of 50 TOPS of AI compute. Benchmarks cited by Intel show up to 60% better multithread performance versus the prior generation, over 77% faster gaming performance and as much as 27 hours of video-streaming battery life. On the embedded side, edge variants deliver up to 1.9× higher large-language-model inference throughput and up to 4.5× greater vision-language action model performance compared with competing single-chip solutions, strengthening Intel’s pitch to industrial, smart-city and healthcare automation customers.

Intel will open preorders for consumer laptops powered by Core Ultra Series 3 on January 6, with global shipments commencing January 27, 2026. Edge and embedded systems will follow in Q2. For investors, the successful rollout of an 18A-based AI PC platform represents a key milestone in Intel’s turnaround strategy. Broad OEM support could drive share gains in both client and foundry markets, while real-world traction in industrial AI applications stands to diversify revenue beyond traditional CPU sales.