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
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.
66 Comments on US Government to Announce Massive Grant for Intel's Arizona Facility
You have been warned.
Not to mention they may have invested money in other businesses (not always successfully, quite obviously).
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.
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.