[microDude]

Nope. When you de-package the chip you damage it, especially on small features. They have access to the die bank, which means they have perfect die. Probably, with test pads still exposed. A microscope, etcher, etester, and patience is all you need to reverse engineer.

[hakfoo]

I always wondered about the latency on a successful reverse engineering of something like a modern CPU.

I'd expect there's a huge validation stage involved-- flaws in the extraction process could give you a plausible looking but ultimately faulty design to work with, and you have to check and clean that up.

Moreover, if you don't have exactly Intel's fab technology and oral-tradition knowledge, you probably have to retool the design to be more suited to the process you have.

It might still be a boost over whatever they have to offer now, but by the time it hits the market, it would be a generation or two old.