Intel Secures Around $8 Billion In New CHIPS Act Grants, Potentially Leading To a Financial Revival

Intel and the Biden government have reached a “pivotal” agreement on the Chips Act, as Team Blue now secures up to $7.86 billion in direct funding.

Intel’s Desperate Attempts To Get Its “CHIPS Act” Funds Released Has Now Paid Off, Apparently Showing The Confidence of US on Team Blue

[Press Release]: Intel Corporation and the Biden-Harris Administration announced today that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Intel have reached an 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.

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.

– Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger

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 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.

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.

[Journalist Note]: Intel’s breakthrough with the US government would indeed act as a sigh of relief for the company, given that Team Blue was in desperate need of a “financial revival”, which will certainly come with the new CHIPS Act grants. Intel has apparently been after the US government for weeks now, in terms of getting its “pledged” funds released, and after continuous attempts, it looks like Team Blue has sorted out a deal.

This has shown that the US government is indeed ready to side with Intel, as not only is the firm the only “US-based” chipmaker, but Team Blue has invested heavily into domestic facilities, aligning with the ambitions of the nation to be self-subsistent in semiconductor production.