>They have been talking about being a foundary for external use for a while, years
Correct, Gelsinger announced roughly a month after returning to Intel their new strategy (~2 years ago). Believe it or not, pulling apart the financials of a company the size of Intel can't be done overnight - and I would guess legally they needed some customer contracts built on the old process technology before they could depreciate assets.
>yet i have not heard of a single customer yet, just an announcement today that intel and ericsson have a partnership.
Did you spend any time looking? 30 seconds on google shows Mediatek signed up last year:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmoorhead/2022/08/10/inte...