AMD is laying the groundwork for its next major CPU battle with Intel, with reports emerging that the company’s future Zen 7 processors will use TSMC’s cutting-edge A14 manufacturing process and advanced packaging technologies aimed at the AI and high-performance computing boom.

According to Taiwanese publication Commercial Times, AMD has already started supply chain preparations for the Zen 7 platform – codenamed ‘Grimlock’ – years ahead of launch. The chips are tipped to arrive around 2028 and could feature major upgrades to cache capacity, chiplet density and AI-focused performance.

The reported move would position AMD directly against Intel’s planned 14A process technology, which Intel is betting heavily on to regain manufacturing leadership after years of delays and competitive pressure.

Industry sources claim Zen 7 flagship compute chiplets could scale to 16 cores with as much as 224MB of L3 cache per CCD using next-generation 3D V-Cache technology. AMD is also said to be evaluating Powertech’s Fan-Out Panel-Level Packaging (FOPLP), a packaging method designed to improve chip density and lower production costs for increasingly complex processors.

Dr. Lisa Su - AMD Chair and Chief Executive Officer

AMD CEO Dr Lisa Su (pictured) reportedly visited Taiwan recently to meet suppliers including Powertech, reinforcing speculation that advanced packaging will play a major role in the company’s future roadmap.

The developments underline how CPUs are becoming increasingly important in AI infrastructure. Analysts say workloads involving AI agents, vector databases, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and low-latency inference place growing emphasis on CPU cache size, memory latency and system orchestration.

At the same time, AMD continues expanding its current X3D lineup, with CPU-Z software recently adding support for an unannounced Ryzen 7 7700X3D processor featuring 96MB of L3 cache.

While Zen 7 remains years away, the early supply chain activity signals the next phase of the AMD-Intel rivalry is already underway.