Intel to co-develop and manufacture Fortinet's next-gen firewall ASIC

Intel and cybersecurity company Fortinet have announced a strategic collaboration to co-develop the next-generation Fortinet Security Processor 6 (SP6), a custom ASIC for FortiGate firewalls. This mar... Read original →

Intel’s decision to open its 4nm EUV node to Fortinet signals a strategic pivot from internal recovery to foundry ecosystem building. Technically, SP6’s chiplet design not only optimizes power and cost for AI-driven firewalls but also pressures EDA vendors and advanced packaging capacity—particularly benefiting Intel’s Foveros stack. On compliance, while U.S.-based manufacturing insulates Fortinet from immediate supply chain risks under tightening export controls, it locks the company into geopolitical premium pricing; if Asian foundries like TSMC face further restrictions, Intel becomes the sole compliant option, inflating BOM costs. Competitively, Palo Alto Networks may accelerate ASIC partnerships with Broadcom to counter Fortinet’s performance leap. Over the next 18 months, cybersecurity silicon will bifurcate into high-performance custom ASICs versus cost-optimized general-purpose SoCs. With Fortinet, Microsoft, and Google as anchor clients, Intel is positioned to establish a credible second growth vector in non-consumer custom silicon by 2027.