Chip-Maker Intel to Get Billions-Worth of US Grants for Secret Pentagon Program
© AP Photo / John MinchilloSemi-conductor chips are assembled and organized on a workbench before a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of a Nanotronics manufacturing center at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Wednesday, April 28, 2021, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.
© AP Photo / John Minchillo
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The Biden administration has made slashing US reliance on Asia for production of cutting-edge microchips a key part of its economic agenda. It has pumped billions into domestic manufacturers like Intel while tightening restrictions on Chinese firms to hinder technological development in the Asian nation's semiconductor industry.
Intel Corp. has reportedly qualified for $3.5 billion-worth of federal grants to to execute a secret Pentagon program.
Advanced chips with military and intelligence applications will be produced by the US tech giant, reported Bloomberg, quoting sources.
The program — dubbed Secure Enclave — will reportedly be spread across several US states where Intel has manufacturing facilities.
The funding for Intel would add to the estimated $8.5 billion-worth incentive package of grants and $11 billion in loans that the company was awarded earlier in the year under the Chips and Science Act.
But Intel is yet to see any of that money as the terms of that package are still being negotiated, the website added.
In March, President Joe Biden announced a $8.5 billion grant to Intel, with funding for several of the company's projects – in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon – coming from the CHIPS and Science Act that passed Congress in 2022. The law aims to boost domestic manufacturing of semiconductor chips. The Biden administration aims to have US facilities produce 20 percent of the world's high-end chips by 2030.
The deal, expected to be announced shortly, would offer a welcome lifeline to the troubled company. Intel’s shares fell nearly 30 percent in August after a dismal profits report was released by the tech titan.
The company had also announced plans to slash its workforce following a pessimistic income forecast.
Investors led by billionaire Warren Buffett began a massive sell-off last month, with Intel's stocks shedding nearly $3 trillion in value against the backdrop of recession fears and inflation.
Intel’s strategic shakeup could doom Biden’s bid to reshore microchip manufacturing
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Intel stock has had a rough year-to-date, plummeting nearly 60% since January and falling off a cliff in early August as investors led by Warren Buffett began a massive selloff which led leading… pic.twitter.com/zZLWHCo1kM