Friday, March 15th 2024

US Government to Announce Massive Grant for Intel's Arizona Facility

According to the latest report by Reuters, the US government is preparing to announce a multi-billion dollar grant for Intel's chip manufacturing operations in Arizona next week, possibly worth more than $10 billion. US President Joe Biden and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will make the announcement, which is part of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act aimed at expanding US chip production and reducing dependence on China and Taiwan manufacturing. The exact amount of the grant has yet to be confirmed, but rumors suggest it could exceed $10 billion, making it the most significant award yet under the CHIPS Act. The funding will include grants and loans to bolster Intel's competitive position and support the company's US semiconductor manufacturing expansion plans. This comes as a surprise just a day after the Pentagon reportedly refused to invest $2.5 billion in Intel as a part of a secret defense grant.

Intel has been investing significantly in its US expansion, recently opening a $3.5 billion advanced packaging facility in New Mexico, supposed to create extravagant packaging technology like Foveros and EMIB. The chipmaker is also expanding its semiconductor manufacturing capacity in Arizona, with plans to build new fabs in the state. Arizona is quickly becoming a significant hub for semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. In addition to Intel's expansion, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is also building new fabs in the state, attracting supply partners to the region. CHIPS Act has a total funding capacity of $39 billion allocated for semiconductor production and $11 billion for research and development. The Intel grant will likely cover the production part, as Team Blue has been reshaping its business units with the Intel Product and Intel Foundry segments.
Sources: Reuters, via Tom's Hardware
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66 Comments on US Government to Announce Massive Grant for Intel's Arizona Facility

#51
Dave65
mechtech"the US government is preparing to announce a multi-billion dollar grant for Intel's chip manufacturing operations in Arizona next week, possibly worth more than $10 billion."

For one of the highest earning companies in the states?!?!

What have they been doing with all those profits from the past decade??
Lining the pockets of other FAT CATS with big cigars..
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#52
xpl1c1t
Imagine Intel foundry services fabbing AMD chips
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#53
Easo
Ferrum MasterWhy? ASML is Dutch...
ASML only makes litography equipment but they don't have fabs. If Taiwan was to blow up right now we would be left without CPU's and majority of microcontrollers for a forseeable future.
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#54
95Viper
Stop the demeaning comments about people of any nation... This will not be tolerated.
You have been warned.
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#55
stimpy88
DimitrimanLet me put a different perspective to this discussion: how would you feel about grants for more chip manufacturing in the US within the context of China taking over Taiwan and the control of 61% of the global market?
We all know it won't help. Even if the west had the capacity to take over from TSMC, we all know the price fixing that has gone on since the pandemic, and it's just any excuse to put prices up. So spend billions to then double or triple the prices anyway. Either way, were screwed, and the corporations drip with gold.
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#56
Shtb
mechtech"the US government is preparing to announce a multi-billion dollar grant for Intel's chip manufacturing operations in Arizona next week, possibly worth more than $10 billion."

For one of the highest earning companies in the states?!?!

What have they been doing with all those profits from the past decade??
Luxury houses and yachts and stuff aren't cheap, you know.
Not to mention they may have invested money in other businesses (not always successfully, quite obviously).
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#57
我叫折衣
95ViperStop the demeaning comments about people of any nation... This will not be tolerated.
You have been warned.
I entirely agree with you.
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#58
Daven
After reading through all the comments, in the end, this government investment will directly aid Intel in the making of its own products over the competition. The US government should not be putting its finger on the scale to the benefit of more Core Ultras and Xeons unless they have secured a guaranteed promise that Intel will manufacture only third party chips with fabs built using government funding. Of course that will not happen.
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#59
stimpy88
DavenAfter reading through all the comments, in the end, this government investment will directly aid Intel in the making of its own products over the competition. The US government should not be putting its finger on the scale to the benefit of more Core Ultras and Xeons unless they have secured a guaranteed promise that Intel will manufacture only third party chips with fabs built using government funding. Of course that will not happen.
Exactly, it is an unfair advantage they are being given. That money will be spent on R&D to help Intel against its competitor. People forget just how many fabs Intel has.
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#60
maxfly
Someone remind me...whats the purpose of Intel, TSMC, GF, Samsung etc...building these fabs on US soil again. I seem to have forgotten. :(
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#61
Noyand
DavenAfter reading through all the comments, in the end, this government investment will directly aid Intel in the making of its own products over the competition. The US government should not be putting its finger on the scale to the benefit of more Core Ultras and Xeons unless they have secured a guaranteed promise that Intel will manufacture only third party chips with fabs built using government funding. Of course that will not happen.
stimpy88Exactly, it is an unfair advantage they are being given. That money will be spent on R&D to help Intel against its competitor. People forget just how many fabs Intel has.
The US government doesn't seem to care that much about the CPU war itself, but the foundry war and local production. And technically the competition can also benefit from that move IF is open to everyone. I've seen people say that AMD/Apple/Nvidia can't do that because Intel will steal their chip design...
But Samsung Electronics made chips for Qualcomm, without ever turning their Exynos into Snapdragon clones.

I also really doubt that clients don't have a protection about that. That would be dumb, and that would also be dumb for Intel to do that, and harm their reputation and abilities to get clients. Intel foundry became open by necessity, not charity. They need external clients to keep the foundry alive. GF decided to stop doing bleeding edge because they failed to make benefits from it :
Gary Patton: Clearly as a technical guy, I love the tech challenges of bleeding edge, but for our employees, for our customers, for our shareholders, at the end of the day we have to be a profitable business and a sustainably profitable business. We all stared at the numbers, and it was pretty clear that for the bleeding edge stuff, the [return on investment] is continuing to erode. I think you see in the press and you’ve probably written about it—Moore’s Law is slowing down. There are fewer customers at the leading edge. The capacity needed at the leading edge is going down with each [manufacturing process technology] node, and at the same time the R&D expense is escalating. It’s tough to get off of the R&D spending drug and sit back and actually rake in the revenue.
GlobalFoundries CTO on Why the Company Abandoned the “Bleeding Edge” - IEEE Spectrum

You can't just snap a bleeding edge foundry into existence, if the volume of clients is too low, whatever start-up the US gov would decide to back-up might make the same move as GF after a while, making it a bad investment.
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#62
tfp
Wait until you hear about the kind of money big government spends subsiding the Auto industry, Agriculture, Airplane and Defense contractors, Energy (a lot to Oil and Gas), the Banking Industry, other Tech Companies, Media Conglomerates, etc...
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#63
Daven
tfpWait until you hear about the kind of money big government spends subsiding the Auto industry, Agriculture, Airplane and Defense contractors, Energy (a lot to Oil and Gas), the Banking Industry, other Tech Companies, Media Conglomerates, etc...
Yes and I’m sure enthusiast sites belonging to each of those industries discusses those subsidies on their webpages. Since Intel and TPU belong in the same industry, we are discussing Intel’s subsidies here.
NoyandThe US government doesn't seem to care that much about the CPU war itself, but the foundry war and local production. And technically the competition can also benefit from that move IF is open to everyone. I've seen people say that AMD/Apple/Nvidia can't do that because Intel will steal their chip design...
But Samsung Electronics made chips for Qualcomm, without ever turning their Exynos into Snapdragon clones.

I also really doubt that clients don't have a protection about that. That would be dumb, and that would also be dumb for Intel to do that, and harm their reputation and abilities to get clients. Intel foundry became open by necessity, not charity. They need external clients to keep the foundry alive. GF decided to stop doing bleeding edge because they failed to make benefits from it :

GlobalFoundries CTO on Why the Company Abandoned the “Bleeding Edge” - IEEE Spectrum

You can't just snap a bleeding edge foundry into existence, if the volume of clients is too low, whatever start-up the US gov would decide to back-up might make the same move as GF after a while, making it a bad investment.
Since you bring up GloFo, I’m not entirely sure they shouldn’t get these subsidies. I bet each dollar of that $10 billion would be much better spent on lower tech, higher yield nodes and chips. Glofo had the courage to stop going down the advanced tech rabbit hole. I trust Glofo more than Intel and Intel’s ocean of powerpoint slides.
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#64
Noyand
DavenSince you bring up GloFo, I’m not entirely sure they shouldn’t get these subsidies. I bet each dollar of that $10 billion would be much better spent on lower tech, higher yield nodes and chips. Glofo had the courage to stop going down the advanced tech rabbit hole. I trust Glofo more than Intel and Intel’s ocean of powerpoint slides.
Global Foundries do benefits from the Chips act, they got $1,5 billion. I'm not a fab expert, but I would guess that older tech that already been figured out and needs machines less expensive than ASML latest and greatest need less money.
GlobalFoundries and Biden-Harris Administration Announce CHIPS and Science Act Funding for Essential Chip Manufacturing | GlobalFoundries
But from what I know from the US, focusing on older tech while watching Taiwan and Korea pull ahead and becomes the uncontested leaders in chips manufacturing isn't on brand. Just look at all the shit that they pulled once China became too hot on their heels as a technological power. The US will never accept to lose that race. Heck, even the EU who was never in that race is trying to get local bleeding edge manufacturing.

The EU is more balanced though, GF and STM got €2.9 billions for low tech, TSMC got €3,5 billion for low-tech, and Intel €9billion for Bleeding edge (for a fab that will cost €30billion).

I get that people dislike Intel, but the reality of the situation is that nobody is going to put their eggs into the same basket. The EU wanted TSMC to build bleeding edge as well... but they refused. 10 years from now, you don't know if organisational or political changes might prompt TSMC to stop doing bleeding edge outside of Taiwan. China military forces are also getting more active near the island. Nobody want to be caught off-guard if shyte hit the fan.
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#65
FoulOnWhite
NoyandGlobal Foundries do benefits from the Chips act, they got $1,5 billion. I'm not a fab expert, but I would guess that older tech that already been figured out and needs machines less expensive than ASML latest and greatest need less money.
GlobalFoundries and Biden-Harris Administration Announce CHIPS and Science Act Funding for Essential Chip Manufacturing | GlobalFoundries
But from what I know from the US, focusing on older tech while watching Taiwan and Korea pull ahead and becomes the uncontested leaders in chips manufacturing isn't on brand. Just look at all the shit that they pulled once China became too hot on their heels as a technological power. The US will never accept to lose that race. Heck, even the EU who was never in that race is trying to get local bleeding edge manufacturing.

The EU is more balanced though, GF and STM got €2.9 billions for low tech, TSMC got €3,5 billion for low-tech, and Intel €9billion for Bleeding edge (for a fab that will cost €30billion).

I get that people dislike Intel, but the reality of the situation is that nobody is going to put their eggs into the same basket. The EU wanted TSMC to build bleeding edge as well... but they refused. 10 years from now, you don't know if organisational or political changes might prompt TSMC to stop doing bleeding edge outside of Taiwan. China military forces are also getting more active near the island. Nobody want to be caught off-guard if shyte hit the fan.
Yeah IF china do go in, they might keep TSMC for themselves, i doubt it, but never know if the chinese are mad enough or not.
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#66
SJZL 2.0
Some of you people literally stretched out the meaning of this so much that it almost became meaningless by itself. Its literally like your mother giving you 50 bucks (investment) for a lemonade stand as her initiative to make more homemade businesses among her children. Governments give money to those businesses as a bet that their local industries will grow rather than the intention to bend over the poor. And that's a good thing.
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