Intel Unveils Next-Gen Automotive SoCs: Frisco Lake and Grizzly Lake to Power Future Vehicles

Panther Lake and Nova Lake reportedly power Intel's next-gen automotive SoCs, Intel releases new roadmap

Expanding its wings into the automotive ecosystem, Intel shared its upcoming SDV (Software-Defined Vehicle) SoC designs at Auto Shanghai 2025 yesterday. Slated to be the industry's first disaggregated design, the company presented its second-generation SDV SoC, internally codenamed Frisco Lake. A detailed investigation by 3elife, a Chinese tech and news publication, purports these SoCs are derivatives of Intel's Panther Lake design, with their successor allegedly based on Nova Lake. Software-defined vehicles are automobiles where a majority of the functionality is handled through software, rather than traditional physical, mechanical, or electronic components. Compared to desktops, x86 has seen limited adoption in the automotive industry, primarily due to stringent power consumption requirements, real-time processing demands, and safety and security concerns. However, as ADAS, autonomous driving, in-car experiences, and the need for high-performance computing in vehicles grow, Intel is positioning itself to gain traction in this market. Last year, the company released the 225W Arc A760A, offering a PC-like experience from the comfort of your car. The Raptor-Lake-based Malibou Lake platform represents Intel's latest SDV offering, featuring up to 14 cores (6P+8E), 24MB L3 cache, 96 EUs, and support for eight cameras, slated for a Q4 2024 launch. Yesterday, Intel shared several slides detailing Frisco Lake, officially poised to deliver 10 times better AI performance and 61% higher efficiency than current offerings, presumably Malibou Lake. In addition, the inclusion of an Xe3 (Celestial) graphics IP block strongly suggests these SoCs are indeed derived from Panther Lake, a connection that is supported by the source and kernel patches (via Harukaze at X). The use of Intel's flagship 18A process node and the jump from Raptor Cove to Cougar Cove (rumored) would explain the sharp spike in efficiency. That's not all, as 3elife secured an alleged roadmap detailing Intel's future product offerings from a third party. Assuming this timeline is accurate, Frisco Lake was never actually intended for launch and appears to be a last-minute addition to Intel's product stack. Apparently, Malibou Lake was in line to be superseded by Grizzly Lake, which is now expected to serve as Intel's third-generation SDV SoC design. Under the Grizzly Lake lineup, the leaked slides mention an SoC codenamed Monument Peak, reportedly offering up to 32 cores, a 7 TFLOPS-capable Xe-based integrated GPU, slated for the first half of 2027. This time frame coincides with Nova Lake, and one rumored configuration of that architecture includes 32 efficient cores (16P+32E+4LPE), likely based on the Arctic Wolf microarchitecture. So, if these rumors hold true, Intel is porting its consumer-grade architectures to the automotive industry with a one-year cadence. Considering the extensive validation processes and typically long lifecycles of these chips, automobiles usually don't opt for the most cutting-edge core design, unlike the desktop market. It's hard to say what the future holds, but perhaps Intel's limited success in the mobile phone and AI markets might be a catalyst for this drive to establish a strong foothold in the automotive domain.

Intel's next-gen automotive SoC detailed: Frisco Lake and Grizzly Lake SoCs get leaked

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you. Intel has provided some more details on its next-gen automotive SoCs codenamed Frisco Lake and Grizzly Lake, which will feature Panther Lake and Nova Lake IP inside, detailed at the recent Shanghai Auto Show in China. Intel's 2nd Gen SDV SoC is codenamed Frisco Lake and will feature a CPU architecture similar to what will be inside of Panther Lake CPUs, which will be launching later this year with volume production expected in 1H 2026. Frisco Lake will feature Panther Lake IP and core architecture, with TDPs ranging between 20W and 65W, with 10x the AI performance and 61% more efficiency over the previous-gen chip based on the Raptor Cove architecture with 12 cores at between 12W and 45W. Another big upgrade inside of Frisco Lake is that Intel will be using its 3rd Gen Xe GPU architecture -- Xe3 -- codenamed Celestial. This new Xe3 GPU IP will replace the Battlemage GPU architecture, offering a huge upgrade over the 1st Gen Xe (96 EUs) design used inside current-gen automotive chips from Intel. After that, Intel has its 3rd Gen SDV SoC with Grizzly Lake codenamed Monument Peak, which should use the same IP inside of Nova Lake CPUs with up to 32 E-Cores in total. Nova Lake is expected to feature up to 52 cores, with a mix of P-Cores and E-Cores. Grizzly Lake is expected to launch sometime in 1H 2027. Jack Weast, Intel Fellow, vice president and general manager of Intel Automotive, said: "Intel is redefining automotive compute with our second-generation SDV SoC, combining the flexibility of chiplet technology with our proven whole-vehicle approach. Together with our partners, we're solving real industry challenges - from energy efficiency to AI-driven experiences - to make the software-defined vehicle revolution a reality for all".

Intel's Next-Gen Automotive SoCs Detailed: Frisco Lake With Panther Lake IP & Xe3 iGPU, Grizzly Lake With Up To 32 Nova Lake E-Cores & 7 TFLOPs iGPU

Intel has detailed its next-gen SoCs, codenamed Frisco Lake & Grizzly Lake, which incorporate Panther Lake & Nova Lake IPs at the Shanghai Auto Show. Intel Fast Forwards Its Automotive SoC Roadmap With 2nd Gen Frisco Lake SDV SoC, Comes With Panther Lake uArch & 3rd Gen Xe Graphics, 10x AI Performance Well, Intel just announced its latest Automotive plans, and they seem to be going all in with new SoC designs that incorporate their latest and greatest architectures. Starting first with the 2nd Gen SDV SoC, codenamed Frisco Lake, this family is going to feature a CPU architecture similar to the Panther Lake chips, which will be launching later this year and are aimed for volume production in the first half of 2026. The chips will employ the Panther Lake IP & core architecture and there's currently no word on the exact core counts, but the chips are said to feature TDPs ranging between 20 & 65 watts and offer 10x the AI performance and 61% efficiency improvement versus the prior generation which is based on the Raptor Lake architecture with a total of 12 cores configured between 12-45W. Another major upgrade will be the addition of the 3rd Gen Xe architecture, or Xe3, which is known as Celestial. This IP will replace the current Battlemage architecture and will be a big upgrade over the 1st Gen Xe (96 EU) design incorporated by the current generation SoCs. Other features include 12 Camera channels and 280 Audio channels. Furthermore, Harukaze5719 was able to confirm through Kernel patches that Frisco Lake is actually based on Panther Lake IP. Intel's Grizzly Lake "3rd Gen SDV" Platform With Monument Peak SoCs Based on Nova Lake IP Geared For 2027 Launch? But there's more: According to an early roadmap obtained by 3elife, it looks like Intel has much more ambitious plans for the future. These come in the form of Grizzly Lake, which will be the 3rd Gen SDV platform with processors codenamed Monument Peak. These SoCs are likely to feature the same IP as the Nova Lake CPUs and employ up to 32 E-Cores. Do note that the Nova Lake CPU platform is expected to feature as many as 52 cores, but those also include P-cores and LP-cores. Other details mention an Xe iGPU with up to 7 TFLOPs of compute performance, 6 display pipes, up to 12 cameras, AEC-Q100 Grade 2, and ASIL B support. Now, if everything goes according to plan, we can expect the Grizzly Lake platform to launch some time in 202,7 as production was initially planned for 1H 2027. But that's the old plan, and a lot has changed over to Intel, but knowing that they are speeding up the automotive game to attract as many EV wins, it looks like we can still very well see a similar launch timeframe as originally planned.