There are only a few hours until CES 2026 opens, and Intel’s press conference also follows. The chip giant is expected to provide more details about its AI PC plans and the new processors that will power them: Core Ultra Series 3 CPUs (aka Panther Lake) are built on the 18A process – that’s 18 Angstromor just below 2 nanometers – designed for high-end laptops and gaming devices.
For Intel, the stakes are higher than ever at CES. Over the past 12 months, NVIDIA and the U.S. government both acquired ownership stakes in the company, helping its stock price nearly double at the end of the year. But that number is still down more than 20% since 2021, as rivals such as TSMC, Qualcomm, AMD and NVIDIA have seized leadership in chip manufacturing and artificial intelligence hardware.
How to watch the Intel press conference
Jim Johnson, senior vice president of Intel’s Client Computing Group, will host the conference on Monday, January 5 at 6 p.m. ET. A live stream will be available on the Intel Newsroom YouTube channel and we will post it here when it happens.
What to expect from Intel at CES 2026
As we mentioned above, Intel has publicly confirmed that it will emphasize “next-generation Intel-powered PCs, edge solutions, and AI experiences enabled by new Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors.” We’ll be interested to see if the company can resolve the profitability issues surrounding these next-generation chips since at least last summer, when reports showed yields still below 50%. (In response, Intel told Engadget it felt “very good” about Panther Lake’s trajectory, even though it didn’t hit the late 2025 release date it envisioned at the time.)
Will we get any updates on the NVIDIA partnership? It’s possible. But don’t expect to hear anything about Intel possibly making the chips for the rumored new entry-level MacBook Air. If this comes true, the timing and location of the announcement must have been Apple’s choice.
