Intel to build $20 billion chip factory in Ohio

AppleInsider · January 21, 2022 11:00AM

Intel is reportedly planning to invest at least $20 billion to create a new processor facility near Columbus, Ohio, continuing chip companies' moves to reduce dependency on other countries.

As Intel plans its own new chips, and wants to make Apple Silicon ones for Apple too, the company been working to expand its capacity. A plan to invest in China was reportedly blocked by the White House, but now Intel is set to create a new plant in Ohio.

According to the Wall Street Journal, an unspecified source familiar with the plans said that the plant would create 3,000 new jobs.

The White House has commented that the plan helps strengthen US efforts to secure semiconductor supplies, and also that it shows how businesses need to avoid overdependence on particular sources.

"The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on the fragility in the global semiconductor supply chain," a White House spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal.

The news follows rival chip manufacturer TSMC's work on a $12 billion processor plant in Phoenix, Arizona, in June 2021.

It's not known when Intel expects to break ground on the new facility.

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ravnorodom · January 21, 2022 1:21PM

This is good. The Biblical pandemic flood has its downfall and also acts like a reboot. 10 years from now there will be plenty of very cool electronic toys with chips built-in.

dewme · January 21, 2022 1:36PM

This is great news for that state of Ohio. There are a number of excellent universities within a fairly small radius of Columbus, including but not limited to OSU, CWRU, IU, U-M, and CMU that have the kind of talent that Intel can tap into quite readily. At the end of the day, 3,000 jobs isn’t huge but I hope it all goes as planned and that this spawns additional investment in the region.

foregoneconclusion · January 21, 2022 2:12PM

FYI: this is happening in part because $52 billion in federal support for the chip industry was passed by Congress and signed into law. Intel will be getting a grant from the U.S. government as part of the funding.

lorca2770 · January 21, 2022 2:26PM

Now, if Intel could just get the litho machines, to produce chips, from ASML Holdings on time…For what I know there is a back log of years…

GeorgeBMac · January 21, 2022 2:33PM

dewme said:

This is great news for that state of Ohio. There are a number of excellent universities within a fairly small radius of Columbus, including but not limited to OSU, CWRU, IU, U-M, and CMU that have the kind of talent that Intel can tap into quite readily. At the end of the day, 3,000 jobs isn’t huge but I hope it all goes as planned and that this spawns additional investment in the region.

I'm not sure about the rest of them, but CMU is a three hour drive from there.

GeorgeBMac · January 21, 2022 2:36PM

foregoneconclusion said:

FYI: this is happening in part because $52 billion in federal support for the chip industry was passed by Congress and signed into law. Intel will be getting a grant from the U.S. government as part of the funding.

Plus a billion dollars from the state of Ohio.

So who exactly is building this plant?

But, that's OK. We need to invest in ourselves, our own country, if we want to keep up. The last 3 decades of austerity have caused us to fall behind in many areas -- not just chips.

It's a wise use of money: That $52billion came from not having to throw away a billion dollars a week in Afghanistan. What did that buy us ?

blastdoor · January 21, 2022 3:11PM

A plan to invest in China was reportedly blocked by the White House, but now Intel is set to create a new plant in Ohio.

That would never have happened under Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, or Obama.

There are many, many bad things about the Trumpazoid, but the fact that his presidency hit the reset button on trade and industrial policy cannot be denied, and I think it is probably a positive thing.

lorca2770 · January 21, 2022 3:22PM

blastdoor said:

A plan to invest in China was reportedly blocked by the White House, but now Intel is set to create a new plant in Ohio.

That would never have happened under Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, or Obama.

There are many, many bad things about the Trumpazoid, but the fact that his presidency hit the reset button on trade and industrial policy cannot be denied, and I think it is probably a positive thing.

We do not know, pure speculation of yours, politics change, so is economics

waveparticle · January 21, 2022 4:44PM

blastdoor said:

A plan to invest in China was reportedly blocked by the White House, but now Intel is set to create a new plant in Ohio.

That would never have happened under Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, or Obama.

There are many, many bad things about the Trumpazoid, but the fact that his presidency hit the reset button on trade and industrial policy cannot be denied, and I think it is probably a positive thing.

Inflation, inflation, inflation!

blastdoor · January 21, 2022 4:46PM

lorca2770 said:

blastdoor said:

A plan to invest in China was reportedly blocked by the White House, but now Intel is set to create a new plant in Ohio.

That would never have happened under Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, or Obama.

There are many, many bad things about the Trumpazoid, but the fact that his presidency hit the reset button on trade and industrial policy cannot be denied, and I think it is probably a positive thing.

We do not know, pure speculation of yours, politics change, so is economics

That’s kind of my point

dewme · January 21, 2022 4:58PM

GeorgeBMac said:

dewme said:

This is great news for that state of Ohio. There are a number of excellent universities within a fairly small radius of Columbus, including but not limited to OSU, CWRU, IU, U-M, and CMU that have the kind of talent that Intel can tap into quite readily. At the end of the day, 3,000 jobs isn’t huge but I hope it all goes as planned and that this spawns additional investment in the region.

I'm not sure about the rest of them, but CMU is a three hour drive from there.

Which is very close for recruiting and retention purposes. Need to add Purdue and Illinois too. This region of the country pumps out a lot of excellent engineering talent (4 of the top 10 ranked engineering grad schools in the country - US News '22 rankings) but too many end up leaving the area upon graduation. Hopefully, this kind of investment will help reduce the level of brain drain from the region.

highframerate · January 21, 2022 5:19PM

foregoneconclusion said:

FYI: this is happening in part because $52 billion in federal support for the chip industry was passed by Congress and signed into law. Intel will be getting a grant from the U.S. government as part of the funding.

Only passed the Senate. Hasn't passed the House or been signed. Being built in order to implement this roadmap - https://www.anandtech.com/show/16823/intel-accelerated-offensive-process-roadmap-updates-to-10nm-7nm-4nm-3nm-20a-18a-packaging-foundry-emib-foveros - which their current facilities are incapable of so it was going to happen anyway. Also, Intel is going to become a contract manufacturer and try to pull Qualcomm, Nvidia and others from TSMC and are going to need the extra capacity to accommodate it.

highframerate · January 21, 2022 5:23PM

GeorgeBMac said:

foregoneconclusion said:

FYI: this is happening in part because $52 billion in federal support for the chip industry was passed by Congress and signed into law. Intel will be getting a grant from the U.S. government as part of the funding.

Plus a billion dollars from the state of Ohio.
So who exactly is building this plant?

But, that's OK.   We need to invest in ourselves, our own country, if we want to keep up.   The last 3 decades of austerity have caused us to fall behind in many areas -- not just chips.

It's a wise use of money:   That $52billion came from not having to throw away a billion dollars a week in Afghanistan. What did that buy us ?

The $52 billion hasn't been passed yet (opposition for various reasons in the House). When it does it is more likely to go to smaller fabs (Texas Instruments, Micron, Tower) instead of Intel.

hmlongco · January 21, 2022 7:20PM

GeorgeBMac said:
Plus a billion dollars from the state of Ohio.
So who exactly is building this plant?

But, that's OK.   We need to invest in ourselves, our own country, if we want to keep up.   The last 3 decades of austerity have caused us to fall behind in many areas -- not just chips.

It's a wise use of money:   That $52billion came from not having to throw away a billion dollars a week in Afghanistan. What did that buy us ?

In what form? If Intel is getting continuing tax credits from Ohio then the fact that they're building there is largely moot. Any revenue gained from employment is dramatically offset by services (roads, etc.) that must be supplied w/o being pad for in taxes.

Yet another corporate tax subsidy at work.

larryjw · January 21, 2022 7:28PM

3000 jobs?

Number of questions? How long will it take to build this factory? What jobs will this factory require? What are the skills required to fill those jobs? How many people in that area already have the skills required and how many more is needed, if any? Of these 3000 jobs, how many of those jobs are in building the facility and infrastructure, and how many will be used in factory once up and running?

payeco · January 21, 2022 8:20PM

GeorgeBMac said:

foregoneconclusion said:

FYI: this is happening in part because $52 billion in federal support for the chip industry was passed by Congress and signed into law. Intel will be getting a grant from the U.S. government as part of the funding.

Plus a billion dollars from the state of Ohio.
So who exactly is building this plant?

But, that's OK.   We need to invest in ourselves, our own country, if we want to keep up.   The last 3 decades of austerity have caused us to fall behind in many areas -- not just chips.

It's a wise use of money:   That $52billion came from not having to throw away a billion dollars a week in Afghanistan. What did that buy us ?

This is more than OK. It’s absolutely necessary. The Chinese government does not even think twice about pumping money into strategic industries like this.

sflocal · January 21, 2022 8:21PM

hmlongco said:

GeorgeBMac said:
Plus a billion dollars from the state of Ohio.
So who exactly is building this plant?

But, that's OK.   We need to invest in ourselves, our own country, if we want to keep up.   The last 3 decades of austerity have caused us to fall behind in many areas -- not just chips.

It's a wise use of money:   That $52billion came from not having to throw away a billion dollars a week in Afghanistan. What did that buy us ?

In what form? If Intel is getting continuing tax credits from Ohio then the fact that they're building there is largely moot. Any revenue gained from employment is dramatically offset by services (roads, etc.) that must be supplied w/o being pad for in taxes.

Yet another corporate tax subsidy at work.

This argument gets really old. Whatever subsidies Intel is getting (or not) will be more than offset over the life of this plant. 3,000 high-paying jobs, homes will be built for those that want to live near the plant, tax-revenue, etc... think outside of the fishbowl that people like you continue to swim in. I'm all for this, and that it's in the U.S. is even better.

waveparticle · January 21, 2022 8:34PM

payeco said:

GeorgeBMac said:

foregoneconclusion said:

FYI: this is happening in part because $52 billion in federal support for the chip industry was passed by Congress and signed into law. Intel will be getting a grant from the U.S. government as part of the funding.

Plus a billion dollars from the state of Ohio.
So who exactly is building this plant?

But, that's OK.   We need to invest in ourselves, our own country, if we want to keep up.   The last 3 decades of austerity have caused us to fall behind in many areas -- not just chips.

It's a wise use of money:   That $52billion came from not having to throw away a billion dollars a week in Afghanistan. What did that buy us ?

This is more than OK. It’s absolutely necessary. The Chinese government does not even think twice about pumping money into strategic industries like this.

You know why? It is not to compete with US. China spend more importing chips than importing crude oil. This is it largest import item.

payeco · January 21, 2022 9:07PM

waveparticle said:

payeco said:

GeorgeBMac said:

foregoneconclusion said:

FYI: this is happening in part because $52 billion in federal support for the chip industry was passed by Congress and signed into law. Intel will be getting a grant from the U.S. government as part of the funding.

Plus a billion dollars from the state of Ohio.
So who exactly is building this plant?

But, that's OK.   We need to invest in ourselves, our own country, if we want to keep up.   The last 3 decades of austerity have caused us to fall behind in many areas -- not just chips.

It's a wise use of money:   That $52billion came from not having to throw away a billion dollars a week in Afghanistan. What did that buy us ?

This is more than OK. It’s absolutely necessary. The Chinese government does not even think twice about pumping money into strategic industries like this.

You know why? It is not to compete with US. China spend more importing chips than importing crude oil. This is it largest import item.

The reason why isn’t important though. The only things that matters is they’re doing it. American companies can only compete with competitors receiving billions of
dollars in free money for so long.

Not to mention this isn’t the only industry the Chinese government is pumping money into. Clean/renewable energy is another one.

JWSC · January 21, 2022 9:16PM

GeorgeBMac said:

dewme said:

This is great news for that state of Ohio. There are a number of excellent universities within a fairly small radius of Columbus, including but not limited to OSU, CWRU, IU, U-M, and CMU that have the kind of talent that Intel can tap into quite readily. At the end of the day, 3,000 jobs isn’t huge but I hope it all goes as planned and that this spawns additional investment in the region.

I'm not sure about the rest of them, but CMU is a three hour drive from there.

Well, CMU is regional. I grew up in mid-Ohio and went to CMU as an undergrad. Not a bad trip on the weekends.

The whole thing sounds like a strategic military-industrial complex venture, where Intel is addressing Government concerns over access to technology hardware. While I haven’t lived there for many years, I would dearly love to see Ohio become a technology center. But building up the business infrastructure will not be easy.

#1: Ohio doesn’t rank up there as a desirable place to live. I mean, it’s beautiful country with the rolling hills in the east. But I don’t live there any more, and there’s a reason for that. #2: Few technology jobs are available. Columbus is a thriving financial center. But all you’ve got is farmland surrounding it. All the large businesses and factories I grew up with are “green-fielded,” meaning they have been leveled and grasslands planted in their place. You might think it bucolic except for the grinding poverty that resulted.

Intel to build $20 billion chip factory in Ohio

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