Intel, Biden-Harris Administration Finalize $7.86 Billion Funding Award Under US CHIPS Act

[btarunr]

Intel Corporation and the Biden-Harris Administration announced today that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Intel have reached agreement on terms to award the company up to $7.86 billion in direct funding for its commercial semiconductor manufacturing projects under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. The award will support Intel's previously announced plans to advance critical semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging projects at its sites in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon. Intel also plans to claim the U.S. Treasury Department's Investment Tax Credit, which is expected to be up to 25% of qualified investments of more than $100 billion.

"With Intel 3 already in high-volume production and Intel 18A set to follow next year, leading-edge semiconductors are once again being made on American soil," said Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel. "Strong bipartisan support for restoring American technology and manufacturing leadership is driving historic investments that are critical to the country's long-term economic growth and national security. Intel is deeply committed to advancing these shared priorities as we further expand our U.S. operations over the next several years."



The announcement demonstrates the U.S. government's confidence in Intel's essential role in building a resilient, trusted semiconductor supply chain on domestic soil. Since the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act more than two years ago, Intel has announced plans to invest more than $100 billion in the U.S. to expand chipmaking and advanced packaging capacity and capabilities critical to economic and national security. The historic investments will support tens of thousands of jobs, strengthen U.S. supply chains, foster U.S.-based R&D, and help ensure American leadership in cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing and technology capabilities.

"The CHIPS for America program will supercharge American technology and innovation and make our country more secure - and Intel is expected to play an important role in the revitalization of the U.S. semiconductor industry," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. "Thanks to the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, our CHIPS award is catalyzing Intel to make one of the largest investments in semiconductor manufacturing in U.S. history."

The award follows the previously signed preliminary memorandum of terms and the completion of Commerce's due diligence, in addition to the announced investment tax credit. The final total award is less than the proposed preliminary award due to a congressional requirement to use CHIPS funding to pay for the $3 billion Secure Enclave program.

U.S. Manufacturing and R&D Investments
The CHIPS Act award will directly support Intel's investments at sites where the company develops and produces many of the world's most advanced chips and semiconductor packaging technologies, including in Arizona, the Silicon Desert; New Mexico, the Silicon Mesa; Ohio, the Silicon Heartland; and Oregon, the Silicon Forest.

• Arizona: Intel's U.S. Manufacturing Powerhouse
• New Mexico: Intel's U.S. Advanced Packaging Site
• Ohio: Intel's New Leading-Edge Manufacturing Site
• Oregon: The Heart of Intel's Semiconductor R&D

Intel was founded in the U.S. and has been innovating, investing and supporting global semiconductor manufacturing and R&D for more than 50 years. Intel currently employs approximately 45,000 people in the U.S.

Foundry Momentum and Technology Leadership
Intel is nearing completion of a historic pace of semiconductor node development to regain process technology leadership. Intel 18A, the company's fifth process node in four years, is on track to launch in 2025 and continues to gain traction with customers. The company is finalizing a multiyear, multibillion-dollar commitment by Amazon Web Services to expand its existing partnership to include a new custom Intel Xeon 6 chip on Intel 3 and a new AI fabric chip on Intel 18A.

In September 2024, Intel won a manufacturing contract for up to $3 billion for the Secure Enclave program. This program is designed to expand the trusted manufacturing of leading-edge semiconductors for the U.S. government and builds on Intel's relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense through the Rapid Assured Microelectronics Prototypes - Commercial (RAMP-C) and State-of-the-Art Heterogeneous Integrated Packaging (SHIP) programs.

Additionally, Intel reported key milestones in advanced semiconductor manufacturing with the completed assembly of the industry's first commercial High Numerical Aperture (High NA) Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography scanner and receipt of an additional High NA tool installed at the company's Hillsboro, Oregon, R&D site. This will enable Intel to lead cutting-edge advancements that will define next-generation chip manufacturing.

Workforce Development and Childcare Benefits
Alongside its manufacturing and technology investments, Intel has a long-standing history of investing in the American workforce by supporting education, training and benefits programs needed to create the jobs of the future. In 2022, for example, Intel announced a $100 million investment to expand semiconductor education, research and workforce training opportunities across the nation.

As part of Intel's overall CHIPS award, $65 million is set aside to support the company's efforts to create a more skilled semiconductor workforce. Intel plans to use $56 million to help train students and faculty at all education levels to support industry growth. This includes, for example, Intel's recently launched U.S. registered apprenticeship program for manufacturing facility technicians.

The company will use $5 million of the dedicated workforce award to help increase childcare availability near Intel's facilities. This is intended to support Intel's recently announced plans to broaden childcare benefits and pilot innovative programs to support working families. The remaining $4 million of the $65 million award will support Intel's participation in the CHIPS Women in Construction Framework, which Intel voluntarily committed to this year to help expand the construction workforce by increasing the participation of women and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Finally, Intel is partnering with the Midwest Microelectronics Consortium (MMEC) as its members receive funding for five technology development projects within the Microelectronics Commons initiative established under the CHIPS Act. These projects will engage more than 30 MMEC members representing organizations from industry, academia and government stakeholders to advance domestic microelectronic technology development to deliver solutions to strengthen the U.S.-based supply chain.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Daven]

At least Intel has stopped pretending it can release three nodes in one year. Just a little while ago, they reported that 3 nm (data center), 20A (Arrow Lake) and 18A (fab customers) were all coming in 2024.

Now it’s 3 nm for data center, TSMC for client, 18A by the end of 2025 for fab customers and 20A cancelled. That’s a little more plausible of a roadmap.

 

[eidairaman1]

More FWA, intel doesn't need the funding

Intel trusted? Really, scummy corp

 

[Nhonho]

The other companies that hire chip manufacturers (like AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm) don't like to hire Intel because Intel is a direct competitor of theirs and, if they give the design of their chips to Intel to manufacture them, they will be showing to Intel all their newest industrial secrets, which undeniably benefits Intel and harms them.

 

[Frank_100]

The other companies that hire chip manufacturers (like AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm) don't like to hire Intel because Intel is a direct competitor of theirs and, if they give the design of their chips to Intel to manufacture them, they will be showing to Intel all their newest industrial secrets, which undeniably benefits Intel and harms them.

Intel can buy AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm chips and reverse engineer.
Sand of the top. Get out the electron microscope.
There are no secrets.

It is to Intel's benefit to produce the best chips it can for its customers.

Intel's problem is that TSMC is slightly better, and slightly cheaper.

 

[Daven]

Intel can buy AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm chips and reverse engineer.
Sand of the top. Get out the electron microscope.
There are no secrets.

It is to Intel's benefit to produce the best chips it can for its customers.

Intel's problem is that TSMC is slightly better, and slightly cheaper.

This is incorrect because it's not complete. Nhonho is exactly right. Nvida, Apple, AMD will NEVER use Intel for the production of any chips that directly compete with them as long as Intel offers its own chips. Beyond getting detailed schematic knowledge required to make the chips, Intel would know volume ordered, potential release date and technological progress made for unreleased products (you CANNOT scan protoypes not on the market yet). But worse of all, INTEL WOULD HAVE CONTROL OF COMPETITION PRODUCTION (yields, priority, capacity, delivery schedules, etc. etc etc). This is always ignored by tech enthusiasts and non business types. We are humans first and giving a historically anticompetitive company control of your production would be corporate malpractice at best, total stupidity at worse. Intel will never prioritize fab production of a competitor over its own product needs.

Intel made a smart move making chips at TSMC. They take fab capacity away from the competition and they show the US government they need money to improve domestic production. Both reasons that show how low a company like Intel is willing to go.

 

[Jomale]

Qualcomm is said to be losing interest in Intel takeover​

"The transaction is associated with numerous financial, regulatory and operational hurdles, according to the report: Among other things, Qualcomm would burden Intel with debts of more than 50 billion US dollars. In addition, the group would face lengthy antitrust investigations in China, among other places – the People's Republic is a key market for both companies."

Golem.de: IT-News für Profis

 

[LabRat 891]

Can't wait for Intel to pull what they did in Germany, and hold up the project to ask for more money...

 

[anonuser57]

The other companies that hire chip manufacturers (like AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm) don't like to hire Intel because Intel is a direct competitor of theirs and, if they give the design of their chips to Intel to manufacture them, they will be showing to Intel all their newest industrial secrets, which undeniably benefits Intel and harms them.

Prior to the release of Intel's 3nm process manufacturing with Intel would have been absolute madness regardless of competition concerns. They didn't use the standards used by the rest of the industry so any chip manufactured by Intel would have to have been designed from the ground up for Intel's process. In short other companies were not avoiding Intel because they were worried about secrets being stolen. They avoided Intel because using them would have required an insane amount of commitment to using Intel.

 

[Daven]

Prior to the release of Intel's 3nm process manufacturing with Intel would have been absolute madness regardless of competition concerns. They didn't use the standards used by the rest of the industry so any chip manufactured by Intel would have to have been designed from the ground up for Intel's process. In short other companies were not avoiding Intel because they were worried about secrets being stolen. They avoided Intel because using them would have required an insane amount of commitment to using Intel.

Why can’t both be true? And like I said above Intel would have control of competition production. Who in their right mind would trust them with that?

 

[damric]

End stage capitalism at it's finest.

 

[Random_User]

This is incorrect because it's not complete. Nhonho is exactly right. Nvida, Apple, AMD will NEVER use Intel for the production of any chips that directly compete with them as long as Intel offers its own chips. Beyond getting detailed schematic knowledge required to make the chips, Intel would know volume ordered, potential release date and technological progress made for unreleased products (you CANNOT scan protoypes not on the market yet). But worse of all, INTEL WOULD HAVE CONTROL OF COMPETITION PRODUCTION (yields, priority, capacity, delivery schedules, etc. etc etc). This is always ignored by tech enthusiasts and non business types. We are humans first and giving a historically anticompetitive company control of your production would be corporate malpractice at best, total stupidity at worse. Intel will never prioritize fab production of a competitor over its own product needs.

Intel made a smart move making chips at TSMC. They take fab capacity away from the competition and they show the US government they need money to improve domestic production. Both reasons that show how low a company like Intel is willing to go.

Exactly! But I would go further, and dare to say, that, even in case if Intel would be split, and chip design would become separate (remain private ownership) from the the fabs (renamed, and to become state ownership), which is the only "proper" justified way, in case of national funding. With how Intel and g. became corrupt, the gov/state owned fabs, would still "leak" the design "nuances" to the private separate chip I, under the curtain, even being two copletely separate/independent entities. There's no guarantee, or even tiny bit of trust left.

The only time IFV can be considered as "safe" third-party waffer supplier, is when Intel would completely drop their own chip design, and will have zero interest in it. Since, there always will be "connections residues". I might be wrong here, but I think, Intel would become way more wealthy, if they become the TSMC of US. At least there would be way less R&D spendings, outside the manufacturing/node and client-required ones.

But that's just random thoughts, and I am not forcing this upon anayone.

 

[ZoneDymo]

Intel can buy AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm chips and reverse engineer.
Sand of the top. Get out the electron microscope.
There are no secrets.

It is to Intel's benefit to produce the best chips it can for its customers.

Intel's problem is that TSMC is slightly better, and slightly cheaper.

I mean yeah, same with ASML's machine, the poiint is that by the time that is actually accomplished the tech will be outdated

 

[Daven]

I mean yeah, same with ASML's machine, the poiint is that by the time that is actually accomplished the tech will be outdated

It’s not the outdated chips Intel would be able to examine. It’s the early prototypes made at every development stage that AMD would need to co-develop with IFS just like they do with TSMC. All these prototypes would be in Intel’s hands way, way BEFORE the chips make it to market. Besides, TSMC doesn’t use SEM to figure out how to make AMD chips. AMD gives them confidential schematics before going to any physical production.

Car factories don’t make their own cars by looking at one physically made car by the engineers. Schematics are loaded into the machines every step of the way.