Very recently I got to go on a tour of a $25 billion manufacturing facility that makes the most sophisticated and cutting-edge chips in the world.
It's located in a desert suburb just outside of Phoenix Arizona.
Visiting this facility is a HUGE deal, because it is strictly off-limits due to the highly-confidential and delicate nature of the products they make.
But, since I've been covering tech online for more than a decade, on national TV for 5 years, and within the last year and a half doing deeper dives into Intel's technology (including visiting their futuristic setup at CES 2025), I received a very exclusive invitation to tour the facility.
A short highlight reel of the 2025 Intel Tech tour.
If you've ever wondered how the futuristic chips inside of your computer are manufactured I'd like to use this article to share my experience so you'll have an insider's perspective on one of the world's newest semiconductor manufacturing facilities
Panther Lake and Clearwater Forest - Intel's newest chips
In case you missed the original article, Intel recently shared info about their upcoming next gen chips (code-named Panther Lake and Clearwater Forest).
These are the brains set to power a whole new wave of AI PCs and massive data centers. But have you ever wondered where these super-advanced pieces of tech are actually born?
The answer is the massive new facility in Chandler, Arizona, called Fab 52. While the first run of these processors began humming earlier in summer 2025, they're now in full production to start shipping chips to power the most powerful computers and servers in 2026.
What's So Special About Fab 52?
Intel's work in Arizona began in 1979. Fast forward to 2025 and their facility is now massive with its own power plant, water processing and recycling facility, and a place where huge technological advancements are happening.
Fab 52 is where Intel is cranking out its first products built on its Intel 18A process. In simple terms, "18A" is the recipe for making the smallest, fastest, and most efficient computer chips ever manufactured in the United States.
The first chips coming out of this facility are the Intel Core Ultra series 3 (Panther Lake) processors, which you'll find in new AI PCs, and the powerful Xeon 6+ (Clearwater Forest) processors for cloud and data servers.
What's It Like Being In North America's Most Advanced Processor Plant?
As part of Intel's 2025 tech tour, various media were flown in from around the world for a few days of conferences, breakout sessions, and demonstrations. The overall point was to learn about the potential of Intel's latest chips and as part of that, we got to tour the facility.
This was a VERY big deal because there are so many logistical and security considerations I still can't believe they let a group of dozens of media traipse around the facility.
In order to do this, we had to get suited up in special "bunny suits" which were puffy, white, and not very breathable. This protective gear wasn't to protect us, it was to protect the equipment and products Intel makes in Fab 52. It easily took us ten minutes to put on two layers of gloves, hair and beard nets, special boots and suits. I spoke to one of the employees there and they said once you get used to it the process is easy enough to do in 5 mins or less.
One of the first things you notice once you enter the manufacturing area is the little robots zipping on rails along the ceiling above your head. There are miles and miles of pathways through Fab 52 connecting it with other buildings on the compound allowing materials to easily be moved without impacting the workers below.
The next shocking thing is how clean absolutely everything is. The facility is classified to an extremely high standard of cleanliness to prevent any sort of airborne particles from impacting the equipment or the sensitive processors that are being manufactured (and it shows). Every surface is immaculate. Metal surfaces gleam like a mirror. And there is absolutely no clutter anywhere as every single tool, device, and supply is kept in specific cabinets.
Members of the media even had to be issued special notebooks and pens that were certified to the cleanliness requirements of the facility.
Even the air is cleaned and refreshed through a series of vents in the ceiling and floor ensuring it's purified completely in less than two minutes.
Overall the tour experience was very interesting. It was more focused on the overall workflow and hum of how this beehive runs rather than the specifics of "this machine makes this component for this product." Which makes sense as the level of security for the clients they're manufacturing for is very high, and also that wasn't the point of our specific tour – it was more about showing tech media people where this stuff they've been covering for years is actually made.
Fun Facts About Fab 52
Intel has been in Arizona since 1980 after establishing in the state the year before. But Fab 52 is on another level. To give you an idea of the scale, building this thing was a wild undertaking:
- They excavated enough soil and rock to fill 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
- The build used five times more structural steel than the Eiffel Tower.
- They poured twice as much concrete as it took to build the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.
So, the next time you hear about the power of an AI PC, or see that little blue sticker on an Intel laptop, hopefully you can get a better picture of the gigantic, high-tech desert factory where its brain was made. The scale of needing a facility so big to manufacture something that is so incredibly tiny is just mind-blowing.
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