Intel tests humanoid race with Panther Lake and AI Suite

Intel announced on Thursday that it is pushing deeper into robotics with a new software package called the Robotics AI Suite and a new processor named Panther Lake.

The company said the combination of software and hardware is designed to support developers who are building machines ranging from robotic arms to humanoid robots.

Mike Masci, vice president of product management with Intel’s Edge Computing Group, said Panther Lake delivers almost 200 trillion operations per second.

“Effectively, this is a Panther Lake that has almost 200 TOPS worth of performance and can run one of these humanoid robots on a board that’s the size of your passport,” Mike said. He stressed that the chip shows the architecture can run with low power in smaller form factors.

“We’re proving to the industry, effectively, the myth of x86 not being able to be low power and not being able to fit into these unique form factors; we’re just basically challenging every one of those paradigms,” Mike added.

Intel tests humanoid race with Panther Lake and AI Suite

The robotics push comes at a time when technology firms are racing to release humanoid robots. Tesla, Agility Robotics, Apptronik, and Boston Dynamics are among those competing to get their machines on the market first. Alongside Intel, other big technology names like Nvidia, Microsoft, and Meta are developing the artificial intelligence needed to power the systems.

While robots folding laundry or walking dogs remain a future concept, Intel emphasized that its suite already fits into daily business. Matthew Formica, senior director and head of edge product marketing at Intel, pointed to real examples in food service and retail.

“Just one example is order accuracy in retail stores,” Matthew said. “In fast food, you order online from Uber Eats … When that order is fulfilled, it’s humans putting the food into the bag, but increasingly they’re trying to remove errors. There are solutions now to put a camera that points at what the person’s doing that [compares] the order with what they’re actually putting in the bag, and using the same [vision-language model]-style technology to have a deep understanding of what those items are.”

He said the system can flag a missing drink or wrong burger, ensuring the right product goes into the order. “So while humanoids are sort of the tip of the spear … there’s a lot of real markets today where the application of that technology is much more real,” Matthew added.

Intel builds new servers and faces political heat

Chief executive Lip‑Bu Tan linked the move to Intel’s history of building chips and research in the United States.“The United States has always been home to Intel’s most advanced R&D, product design and manufacturing – and we are proud to build on this legacy as we expand our domestic operations and bring new innovations to the market,” Lip‑Bu said.

The company also revealed that it is preparing Xeon 6+ servers with 18A processors, scheduled for the first half of 2026.

The announcement comes at a time when Intel has struggled to keep pace with rising demand for advanced chips during the artificial intelligence surge. In August, the U.S. government purchased a 10% stake in Intel to boost manufacturing inside the country. The company has also received fresh investments from SoftBank and from Nvidia.

Since stepping into the role of CEO in March, Lip‑Bu has faced heavy pressure to deliver. That pressure has included direct words from the White House.

Over the summer, President Donald Trump called him “highly CONFLICTED” and demanded that he step down, before later changing his position.

Despite the turbulence, Intel has seen a rebound on Wall Street. Its shares are up 87% this year, showing how investors are tracking the company’s latest moves in AI, robotics, and chip manufacturing.

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