https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/06/intel_ohio_fab_spin/ [user] [user] Sign in The Register(r) -- Biting the hand that feeds IT [magn] [burg] [burg] Topics Security Security All SecurityCyber-crimePatchesResearchCSO (X) Off-Prem Off-Prem All Off-PremEdge + IoTChannelPaaS + IaaSSaaS (X) On-Prem On-Prem All On-PremSystemsStorageNetworksHPCPersonal Tech (X) Software Software All SoftwareAI + MLApplicationsDatabasesDevOpsOSesVirtualization (X) Offbeat Offbeat All OffbeatDebatesColumnistsScienceGeek's GuideBOFHLegalBootnotesSite NewsAbout Us (X) Vendor Voice Vendor Voice Vendor Voice All Vendor VoiceAmazon Web Services (AWS) Business Transformation CofenseGoogle CloudGoogle Cloud & The FAOutsystemsRapid7Rockwell Automation (X) Resources Resources Whitepapers Webinars Newsletters [systems] Systems Has Intel gone too far with its Ohio fab 'delay' stunt? With construction unceremoniously underway, x86 giant may have overplayed its hand Dylan Martin Wed 6 Jul 2022 // 18:56 UTC 3 comment bubble on white --------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 comment bubble on white # reddit Twitter Facebook linkedin WhatsApp email [https://www.theregis] Copy COMMENT The way Intel has been talking about the status of its $20 billion Ohio fab project, you would be forgiven if you assumed that construction on the Midwest mega-site has been delayed in light of Congress struggling to pass a large subsidies package that would support new American chip factories. When Intel delayed a groundbreaking ceremony for the Ohio manufacturing site two weeks ago out of frustration over the subsidies inaction, some headlines may have given you the impression the semiconductor giant was putting off construction entirely. However, an Intel spokesperson made it clear to The Register and others at the time that the start date for construction had not changed. * Intel's CEO shouldn't be surprised America can't get CHIPS Act together * Intel withholds Ohio fab ceremony over US chip subsidies inaction * Proposed Innovation Act amendment would block US investment in China * China 'must seize TSMC' if the US were to impose sanctions Some mainstream press perpetuated the idea that a delayed ceremony meant a delayed project altogether. Yet, the groundbreaking ceremony is just that: a ceremony, where officials scoop up some dirt for the cameras while construction crews in the background do the real work. Intel decided to lean into the delay narrative, with CEO Pat Gelsinger last week saying, "The idea of delaying ... this sucks... I am not a delay guy." All of this helped feed the idea that Intel actually is delaying construction at the Ohio mega-site. [systems] But Intel confirmed that it started construction on its Ohio site in the town of New Albany last Friday, a few days after Gelsinger made his comments, as reported by multiple local news outlets. Construction may have even started sooner, according to one local account. Why does the CHIPS Act matter again? The CHIPS for America Act is important in the eyes of Intel and other semiconductor promoters for a number of reasons, from fighting against future chip shortages and inflation to reducing reliance on chipmakers in Asia where around 80 percent of IC fabrication happens now, and hedging against future geopolitical instability. The latter is particularly pressing in light of concerns about Chinese aggression against Taiwan; and growing US manufacturing jobs. Intel naturally feels frustrated that the US Congress hasn't approved the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, which will provide more than $50 billion in semiconductor subsidies, when the European Union, Japan, and other governments have moved ahead with their own subsidies to promote domestic growth of semiconductor manufacturing. Still, Intel may have gone too far with its ceremony delay stunt and making it seem like the Ohio project is in greater peril than it actually is. [systems] [systems] The commotion has already prompted Ohio officials to reassure locals that Intel's project hasn't been delayed. But the bigger issue is that Intel has eclipsed its own messaging for what's really at stake with Congress failing to pass the CHIPS Act. Specifically, lawmakers have to reconcile the Senate's United States Innovation and Competition Act and the House's America Competes Act, which include the CHIPS Act funds, and so far they are unable to decide on the final wording for President Biden to sign. [systems] Intel has said from the beginning, when it first announced the Ohio project in January, that "the scope and pace of our expansion in Ohio will depend heavily on funding from the CHIPS Act." The company even reiterated this point to us when we asked about the groundbreaking delay. In an interview with CNBC last week, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) said that Intel has succinctly communicated what this means: * Without subsidies, Intel may only invest $20 billion to build two fabs in Ohio over the next several years. * With subsidies, Intel's investment in Ohio could go up to $80 billion to $100 billion "within a relatively short period of time," enabling it to build a total of eight fabs. This is more nuanced than a simple delay in construction, and it's where we think Intel may have fumbled in urging Congress to pass the CHIPS Act. Even DeWine seemed to have a read on Intel's potential politicking, telling the media he thinks the company may have delayed the groundbreaking ceremony as a negotiating tactic to make Congress act: I don't think they wanted to be in a position where they would say to Congress, we're breaking ground, and Congress still hadn't passed the CHIPS Act. I think it's a little bit of maybe leverage or a little bit of, hey, let's pay attention to this. Intel's words and actions matter because it has promised to become an economic engine for the state of Ohio. The corporation has said the initial phase of the fab mega-site would result in the creation of 3,000 jobs at Intel as well as 7,000 construction jobs, plus tens of thousands of additional jobs necessitated by Intel's local suppliers and partners. Intel made this commitment with the assumption that Congress would pass the CHIPS Act in a timely manner and unlock $52 billion in subsidies, which would support Intel and other companies building new fabs in the US. The frustration over Congress not taking action yet for several months is understandable, but Intel needs to ensure it can effectively communicate the true impact of such inaction. 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Wall Street analysts estimate TSMC will grow second-quarter revenue 43 percent quarter-over-quarter to $18.1 billion. Intel, on the other hand, is expected to see sales decline 2 percent sequentially to $17.98 billion in the same period, according to estimates collected by Yahoo Finance. The potential for TSMC to surpass Intel in quarterly revenue is indicative of how demand has grown for contract chip manufacturing, fueled by companies like Qualcomm, Nvidia, AMD, and Apple who design their own chips and outsource manufacturing to foundries like TSMC. Continue reading * Intel withholds Ohio fab ceremony over US chip subsidies inaction $20b factory construction start date unchanged - but the x86 giant is not happy Dylan Martin Thu 23 Jun 2022 // 23:19 UTC 18 comment bubble on white Intel has found a new way to voice its displeasure over Congress' inability to pass $52 billion in subsidies to expand US semiconductor manufacturing: withholding a planned groundbreaking ceremony for its $20 billion fab mega-site in Ohio that stands to benefit from the federal funding. The Wall Street Journal reported that Intel was tentatively scheduled to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the Ohio manufacturing site with state and federal bigwigs on July 22. But, in an email seen by the newspaper, the x86 giant told officials Wednesday it was indefinitely delaying the festivities "due in part to uncertainty around" the stalled Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act. That proposed law authorizes the aforementioned subsidies for Intel and others, and so its delay is holding back funding for the chipmakers. Continue reading * Intel's CEO shouldn't be surprised America can't get CHIPS Act together Silicon supremo warns he could prioritize expansion in Europe if Congress doesn't approve subsidies Dylan Martin Wed 29 Jun 2022 // 19:57 UTC 34 comment bubble on white Comment How serious is Intel about delaying the build-out of its planned $20 billion mega-fab site in Ohio? It turns out very serious, as Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger made clear on Tuesday, less than a week after his x86 giant delayed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ohio site to show its displeasure over Congress' inability to pass $52 billion in subsidies to fund American semiconductor manufacturing. In comments at the Aspen Ideas Festival yesterday, Gelsinger warned Intel would prioritize building factories in Europe over the US if Congress fails to act on the long-stalled chip subsidies bill. Continue reading * Intel to sell Massachusetts R&D site, once home to its only New England fab End of another era as former DEC facility faces demolition Dylan Martin Thu 30 Jun 2022 // 00:00 UTC 18 comment bubble on white As Intel gets ready to build fabs in Arizona and Ohio, the x86 giant is planning to offload a 149-acre historic research and development site in Massachusetts that was once home to the company's only chip manufacturing plant in New England. An Intel spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday to The Register it plans to sell the property. The company expects to transfer the site to a new owner, a real-estate developer, next summer, whereupon it'll be torn down completely. The site is located at 75 Reed Rd in Hudson, Massachusetts, between Boston and Worcester. It has been home to more than 800 R &D employees, according to Intel. The spokesperson told us the US giant will move its Hudson employees to a facility it's leasing in Harvard, Massachusetts, about 13 miles away. Continue reading * Intel demos multi-wavelength laser array integrated on silicon wafer Next stop - on-chip optical interconnects? Dan Robinson Wed 29 Jun 2022 // 14:40 UTC 7 comment bubble on white Intel is claiming a significant advancement in its photonics research with an eight-wavelength laser array that is integrated on a silicon wafer, marking another step on the road to on-chip optical interconnects. This development from Intel Labs will enable the production of an optical source with the required performance for future high-volume applications, the chip giant claimed. These include co-packaged optics, where the optical components are combined in the same chip package as other components such as network switch silicon, and optical interconnects between processors. According to Intel Labs, its demonstration laser array was built using the company's "300-millimetre silicon photonics manufacturing process," which is already used to make optical transceivers, paving the way for high-volume manufacturing in future. The eight-wavelength array uses distributed feedback (DFB) laser diodes, which apparently refers to the use of a periodically structured element or diffraction grating inside the laser to generate a single frequency output. Continue reading * To Washington's relief, GlobalWafers to spend $5 billion on Texas plant Cash had been burning a hole in company's pocket after deal to buy Siltronic fell through Laura Dobberstein Tue 28 Jun 2022 // 05:45 UTC 7 comment bubble on white Taiwan's GlobalWafers announced on Monday a new use for the $5 billion it first earmarked for a purchase of Germany's Siltronics: building a 300-millimeter semiconductor wafer plant in the US state of Texas. Construction on the facility - which will eventually span 3.2 million square feet - is expected to commence later this year, with chip production commencing by 2025. The plant will sit in the city of Sherman, near the Texas-Oklahoma border, where it is slated to bring in 1,500 jobs as production climbs towards 1.2 million wafers per month. GlobalWafers is the world's third largest producer of silicon wafers and Sherman is already home to its subsidiary, GlobiTech. Continue reading * US expands efforts to hamstring China's chipmaking mojo Beijing can't get next-gen lithography gear, America now trying to block sales of older machines Dylan Martin Tue 5 Jul 2022 // 21:12 UTC 16 comment bubble on white The US government is reportedly stepping up efforts to hamper China's ability to grow its semiconductor manufacturing capabilities by pressing for a wider ban on key chipmaking gear. Uncle Sam hopes to convince officials in the Netherlands to block Dutch-native semiconductor equipment maker ASML from selling its older deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) systems to China, according to a Tuesday report from Bloomberg that cited unnamed sources. US and Dutch officials declined to comment on the report, as did ASML. DUV systems use a less advanced lithography process than ASML's extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) machines that chipmakers are increasingly turning to for leading-edge components coming to the market, such as Apple's homegrown M2 silicon for Macs or Nvidia's H100 datacenter GPU. Continue reading * Intel details advances to make upcoming chips faster, less costly X86 giant says it's on track to regaining manufacturing leadership after years of missteps Dylan Martin Mon 13 Jun 2022 // 02:00 UTC 31 comment bubble on white By now, you likely know the story: Intel made major manufacturing missteps over the past several years, giving rivals like AMD a major advantage, and now the x86 giant is in the midst of an ambitious five-year plan to regain its chip-making mojo. This week, Intel is expected to detail just how it's going to make chips in the near future that are faster, less costly and more reliable from a manufacturing standpoint at the 2022 IEEE Symposium on VLSI Technology and Circuits, which begins on Monday. The Register and other media outlets were given a sneak peek in a briefing last week. The details surround Intel 4, the manufacturing node previously known as the chipmaker's 7nm process. Intel plans to use the node for products entering the market next year, which includes the compute tiles for the Meteor Lake CPUs for PCs and the Granite Rapids server chips. Continue reading * Intel demands $625m in interest from Europe on overturned antitrust fine Chip giant still salty Tobias Mann Mon 20 Jun 2022 // 19:21 UTC 30 comment bubble on white Having successfully appealed Europe's EUR1.06bn ($1.2bn) antitrust fine, Intel now wants EUR593m ($623.5m) in interest charges. In January, after years of contesting the fine, the x86 chip giant finally overturned the penalty, and was told it didn't have to pay up after all. The US tech titan isn't stopping there, however, and now says it is effectively seeking damages for being screwed around by Brussels. According to official documents [PDF] published on Monday, Intel has gone to the EU General Court for "payment of compensation and consequential interest for the damage sustained because of the European Commissions refusal to pay Intel default interest." Continue reading * Elon Musk's brother buys Intel's fireworks-replacing drone biz Yet another sign x86 giant has moved past Krzanich era to focus on core chip businesses Dylan Martin Tue 5 Jul 2022 // 23:04 UTC 10 comment bubble on white As Intel tries to enact an ambitious comeback plan, the semiconductor giant has been offloading some divisions that aren't key to its core chipmaking business. The latest to get shunted off is the company's PR-friendly drone-powered light-show business, and the buyer is... Elon Musk's brother. Yes, that's right: Kimbal Musk has acquired Intel Drone Light Shows through his new company Nova Sky Stories, which he formed after apparently being brought to tears last year by the sight of light drones forming the titular "man" of the Burning Man festival at an unofficial gathering after the official annual event was canceled. While Musk doesn't mention Intel by name in a June announcement of Nova Sky Stories, the website for Intel's drone light-show business says it has been bought by K. Musk's company. Continue reading ABOUT US* * Who we are * Under the hood * Contact us * Advertise with us MORE CONTENT* * Latest News * Popular Stories * Forums * Whitepapers * Webinars SITUATION PUBLISHING* * The Next Platform * DevClass * Blocks and Files * Continuous Lifecycle London * M-cubed Situation Publishing The Register - Independent news and views for the tech community. 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