U.S. okays $7.86bn Chip Manufacturing Grant for Intel

The United States of America government has recently expanded $7.86 billion in funding to Intel in support of CHIPS and the Science Act to support semiconductor production. This investment is a part of the Biden administration’s much larger plan to fortify more domestic manufacturers of semiconductors and lessen dependency on foreign countries, particularly China.
 

Highlights:

1. Intel's Ambitious Chip Manufacturing Plans

2. Support from the CHIPS and Science Act

3. The Importance of Semiconductor Security

4. Intel's CEO Highlights the Grant's Significance

5. A turning point for US technological independence

 

Big tech company Intel intends to use the grant to build more factories for chips in Ohio, thus a significant development towards the development of a strong chip manufacturing hub in America. This project that the company has christened Silicon Heartland will create thousands of employment opportunities and put the US on the map as a global semiconductor hub.

It comes at a time when the global supply chain interfaces remain a worry, thus the need to source key supplies for the automobile, healthcare, and defence industries.

The CHIPS and Science Act, which was passed in August 2022, provides more than $52 billion to encourage semiconductor innovation and production. Indeed, Intel’s grant approval is one of the largest according to the government, which has confidence in Intel’s abilities to achieve the greatest impacts.

The goal of this undertaking is to try and break the monopoly that Asian chip manufacturers like Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung have over the industry by making the U.S. less reliant on other countries for chips.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that enhancing the semiconductor industry is not only about technology but also about security. Semiconductors are behind many of the things we use today, from the smartphones we use day to day to the military equipment used in modern warfare. We cannot have loose ends in this supply chain,” she said.

Intel’s chief executive officer, Pat Gelsinger, also welcomed the grant, referring to it as a game changer for Intel and the nation at large. The expansion in Ohio is expected to begin construction sometime in the first half of 2025, with full-scale production planned for 2028.

This investment is a critical turning point for the technological independence of the United States and a new age for semiconductor manufacturing.