Intel creates a digital audit trail to trace the origins of chips

Intel is creating a digital audit trail in its chip supply chain for customers to trace how a chip traveled through the development process before reaching a PC.

The Assured Supply Chain program, which was announced on Wednesday, tracks and records the development of a chip through Intel’s production and distribution chain, which customers can then verify digitally.

“It encompasses every step in the silicon manufacturing process — fabrication, die preparation, assembly, testing, manufacturing and warehousing,” said Jennifer Larson, general manager of commercial client segments at Intel’s Client Computing Group.

Chips are typically manufactured in one location and then rerouted to other sites for testing and packaging until they ship out to a PC maker. The program will track the movement of chips through sites in the US, Ireland, Taiwan, Malaysia and Vietnam, Larson said.

“This is positioned for government, highly regulated industry, and enterprise customers who really desire transparency in the silicon manufacturing supply chain,” Larson said.

The first chips certified as part of the Assured Supply Chain program will be Ultra Series 2-powered systems — which are better known under the code-name Arrow Lake — that will ship in the second half of 2025. The chips, some of which have integrated system management tools called vPro, are targeted at commercial customers.

A verification mechanism will feature a screen that will list out the name of the CPU, and a list of the countries that reflects the manufacture flow, a spokesman said.

The sites listed in the verification tool aren’t limited to Intel’s fabs alone. Arrow Lake chips are being fabricated by rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and the verification tool will also list Taiwan-based TSMC fabs.

The program complements the Intel Transparent Supply chain, in which a certificate is delivered at the time of manufacturing to show the location and process. The Assured Supply Chain program is different in that it follows a predetermined pathway, in which manufacturing, assembly and testing sites are determined before the chip is made. The chip then follows that trail.

Intel didn’t share whether the chips were tracked and digitally stamped at each location.

In today’s world, the country in which a chip is manufactured matters when it comes to meeting security and compliance standards, said Roger Kay, principal analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates.

“It’s a way to say — these chips are not made in China, they are made in the US, and made very carefully,” Kay said.

Intel previously made its own chips, so provenance wasn’t a concern. The company is now a manufacturing-first company that is welcoming third parties but has struggled to find customers due to yield issues, Kay said.

The ASC program could be a way to certify that the manufacturing sites are meeting certain engineering standards, Kay said.

“This is about quality control and Intel trying to sell its fab to customers — this is a good way to do it,” Kay said.