What we know about Intel?s $20 billion bet on Ohio ? and US manufacturing

Filed under:Hint: It’s not about the chip shortageOn Friday, Intel announced it would build the “largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet” here in the United States, on a 1,000-acre plot of land in New Albany, Ohio. Hours later, President Biden, Ohio governor Mike DeWine, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and other executives and local officials suggested the up-to-$100 billion development could be a panacea for a wide variety of issues, too — including global competitiveness, national security, the chip shortage, the high price of cars, racial and gender gaps in STEM employment, even inflation itself. “So that’s why today’s announcement from Intel is so exciting.”What will the Ohio plant actually make?Intel hasn’t offered details yet, but Gelsinger said in the presentation that it will produce advanced chips at process nodes “2nm and below.” “What we have said is that the Ohio factories are designed for the ‘Angstrom era,’ with support for Intel’s most advanced process technologies, including Intel 18A,” an Intel spokesperson tells The Verge.Would it actually be the “largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet”?It might be, but probably not for long. Every little bit helps, I imagine, but even if the House approved $52 billion in funding for domestic semiconductor manufacturing and Intel spent the full $100 billion in Ohio — again, over a decade — they’ll still be completely dwarfed by chip giants TSMC and Samsung. As far as global competitiveness, there’s hope that when Intel chooses to build new fabs in the United States, others will follow suit — and that does appear to be happening, with Samsung promising to build a $17 billion advanced chipmaking plant in Taylor, Texas, and both TSMC and its suppliers reportedly mulling additional investments in Arizona.But Intel isn’t necessarily just playing for the US. We went to Israel, and we helped to establish the Silicon Oasis,” he said.(Here are more “Silicon” place names if you want.)That aside, Time reports that New Albany, Ohio, is far more developed than outsiders might know, is one of the wealthiest places in Ohio, and that Intel isn’t the first big tech company to break ground.